


The World Ends With Us

by Crimson5Drake



Category: Homestuck
Genre: AU, Caliginous Romance | Kismesis, F/F, F/M, Flashbacks, Flushed Romance | Matesprits, Flushed pairings have yet to be decided, Homestuck - Freeform, Honey and The Bee by Owl City, Humanstuck, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Lots of Diamonds, M/M, Music, Nightmares, Pale Romance | Moirallegiance, Rated T for Karkat's mouth, This Week the Trend By Relient K, asylumstuck, lots of friendships, mentalstuck, mostly - Freeform, self-hate, tags will be edited as i go
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-01
Updated: 2017-02-14
Packaged: 2018-06-05 13:12:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 11
Words: 80,916
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6705721
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crimson5Drake/pseuds/Crimson5Drake
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The game is over and everybody has been reborn. Some have retained memories of their past lives. Some have not. Some have retained quirks. Some have not. Some have retained flushed feelings. Some have not. Some have retained black feelings. Some have not. Some have retained habits. Some have not. But everyone is back together in some way or another and everybody has a role to play in this new game called Life. But is there something bigger going on? Who's calling the shots? Will everybody get out alive? Or was this some big trap facilitated by Doc Scratch to end everybody once and for all?</p><p>The game is over.  Things are finished right?  Complete?  Everyone is human.  There’s no need to worry about Her Imperial Condescension anymore.  Right?  But when a new college/psych ward opens up named Skaia, things start to look fishy.  [No pun intended]</p><p>Follow the post-scratch and pre-scratch crew as the attend the Skaia facilities whether it be for the psych ward, the college, or both.</p><p>When things come down to the quick, will there be an all out war?  And what of Doc Scratch and Lord English?</p><p>NO!  IT WONT HAPPEN AGAIN!  WE WONT LET IT!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Nightmares – Memories and Living Them

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sollux wakes up with a nightmare and is comforted by Mituna. Kankri is the good friend and brother who checks in on people. Karkat is on the verge of a mental breakdown.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my first ever Homestuck fic so I hope you like it. I also hope it isn't too confusing. I honestly hope it makes sense. I'm trying to keep everyone's typing quirks the same that way it's less confusing. When I get to typing pesterlogs, not all the handles are going to be the same. Just a warning. But like I said, I'm keeping everyone's typing quirks, so that should make it less confusing.

=====> Your name is Sollux and right now you're having a nightmare. It's time to wake up now.

“ARADIA!!” you shout loudly, flying up in your recoopracoon. You think that maybe you should be a little quieter but you're alone in your room and the rest of your hive stem can suck your bulge for all you care. But something doesn't feel right. You look around. You're surrounded by blankets and drenched in a cold sweat and you feel dried tears on your face. You don't see sopor slime anywhere. You were in a bed. What? That's wrong. No, this isn't right. This isn't your room.

Your eyes are wide and you're looking around. Your wires. Your computers. Your codes. Where—? But you're thoughts are cut short when you feel an arm around your shoulders and now it's stroking your back. “Arad—” you start to ask but cut short when you see it's only your twin. “'Tuna,” you sigh, leaning into your twin's comfortable embrace.

You _are_ in your room. You're in your room at the Skaia Counciling Facility that's on the same campus as the college that you will be attending when summer break ends. You're not sure how you feel about that since you know Aradia won't be with you but it's not gonna kill you, right?

You feel a lump in your throat at that thought. “I killed her,” you sniff. “I killed Aradia.” Tears fell and you felt more coming, that you didn't know how to stop. Your sorrow swept over you in waves and you began shaking in Mituna's arms.

He rubs your back soothingly and it kind of helps you feel better. “Alexth, you didn't kill anybody, I promithe,” he lisps against your hair. “You don't have it in you.” He places a kiss on top of your head and you wrap your arms around him, burying your face in his neck. “I don't know what you thaw, but I know that you didn't kill Aradia. If you're worried about Amber, don't be. Sthe wath releathed latht week to Sthinju, remember? Sthe got accthepted into a different college, remember, Tholluxth?”

You sit up and squint your heterochromatic eyes at him, staring into his identical brown and green ones. “How do you know thith?” you ask him demandingly. You search his eyes for answers. It always gets you how he can keep memories about both of his lives separate while your memories always bleed into each other, making you question what's happening now and what happened in your previous life. It's the reason you trust Daniel. Your nerves flare up every time you are around him and you are always alert every time he's around Vivian.

Mituna shrugs. “It might have something to do with my damaged think-pan ath Mituna.” Right. His name in this life is no longer Mituna, it's Tobias now. You call him Toby when you're in public but when it's just the two you, you still call him 'Tuna and even though you're name is now Alexander, he still calls you Sollux. “I'm not thure how, but I remember everything from that life clearly, including my accthident. Nothing ith thcrambled. I underthand and thee thingth clearly. It'th eathy for me to keep everything theperated becauthe of that. At leatht, I think that'th why.”

You stare and nod. Oddly, that makes complete sense to you. You wish you keep both lives separated as well as he could, but you get the feeling that maybe this is for the better. You can bring the others together easier when the time calls for it. “But...” you start again, looking at a corner of the bed, “I thtill watched mythelf kill Aradia. I uthed the pthionicth. It dethroyed her hive and her luthuth.” You felt the tears again and a desperate sadness fell over you. “I heard her thcreamth, Mituna. I know what thothe sound like. I lived through that before. I don't remember it ath clearly ath I should though.” You look around the room. Maybe it would give you answers but nothing came from that.

“That'th why it wathn't you, Luxth. You didn't kill Aradia. That wathn't you.” He strokes your back again, petting you. You lean into him and start buzzing quietly, burying your face in his neck. Some people joke that you and your twin are cats because you two purr, but if they listened closer they'd hear that you and Toby sound like bees instead of cats. “You had to be under thome thort of mind-control. You would never have killed her out of your own free will and you know that mind-control ithn't out of the quethtion on Alternia.”

You nod, feeling a little better. It still doesn't feel right. You wish that Amber had stuck around a little longer, but you suppose if she had, you wouldn't have had a catalyst for those gog-awful memories to resurface. You press yourself closer to your twin, hoping that the closeness will help heal the wounds.

* * *

=====> Be Calliope.

You are a councilor named Calliope and your next patient is name Theresa. You dislike Theresa with a passion. She's weird, crazy, delusional, and she scares you. You will never admit that to anybody else, but she does. You want her to get better so she can get out of the Skaia Counseling Facility and out of your hair. But it seems like she always has other ideas.

Her walls were always covered in chalk. Or marker. Or paint. Or crayon. Or whatever the medium for that day is. Somehow, she always got her hands on _something_ and while you didn't like it, you never reported it because that just meant that you would be seeing her more and _that_ was the last thing you ever wanted. You know that you would also be assigned to clean her walls and that scares you more because you don't like taking more than two steps into her room as it is.

You walk up and knock on her door. You sigh quietly to yourself, hoping that today is a tame day because you don't want to hear another one of her rants that has to deal with a justice filled haze, whatever that meant.

You take a step back when the door opens. You cough and wave your hands in the air. There are fumes in the air and they smell like paint. Why the heck are there paint fumes coming out of her room. You don't ask because you don't want to know and you don't want to be responsible for this.

You have asked multiple times for a patient transfer, but you've been denied each time. The doctor isn't allowed to switch patients, only patients are allowed to switch doctors. Of course, Theresa wouldn't ask for a change because she liked picking on you way too much.

You take a hesitant step into Theresa's room and, against your better judgment, breathe. You almost gag and you feel like you are going to be sick. How can she stand it in here?

“Hello, Miss Calliope!” she greets you loudly, cane in hand, red sunglasses on her face. “Has Caliborn checked in yet? Hehehehehehe!!” She cackles loudly and it makes you cringe. You know that she's blind but you quickly wonder if she might be going deaf too. Or maybe it's just how she is with you. It it possible that she's picked up on your nervousness around her.

You narrow your eyes at the girl. She's weird, she's absurd, and you really can't stand her. Why would a blind girl need to wear sunglasses? Inside of all places! And when it's dark? The red-tipped cane should be enough to let others know that she's blind. Any normal, non-blind person could wear those sunglasses. They mean nothing. You hate her and just wish she would go away! Plus, she's really creepy. “I have no idea who you're talking about, Theresa. There is nobody here at Skaia by the name of Caliborn. I have no idea what you're talking about.”

“Sure you do!” She cackled again and it was grating on your nerves. “You know exactly who I'm talking about because Caliborn isn't somebody who has been institutionalized.”

Your eyes grow wide and you feel a chill run down your back. She—No. She isn't talking about him. How would she know? You had a stillborn twin that your parents told you about. You asked about it one day and your mom said that she was going to name him Caliborn. You shake your head. You feel sick to your stomach. She can't know. You never told anybody. The only ones who know are you and your parents. Not even they told anybody. Things are spinning now and you know it isn't just because of the paint fumes that you're still breathing.

The grin that shes wearing on her face freaks you out even more. Sickeningly enough, you could imagine this girl with sharp teeth and gray skin and horns. Long ones with sharp points that she could run somebody through with. You know that another patient of yours roleplays as a cat-girl with gray skin and horns but she's too sweet for that. You are completely convinced that Theresa could pull off the blood-thirsty troll thing quite well.

“He's in your head. He is a voice that you shut out a long time ago. I know because I know you. That other world that Cater and I talk about, you're part of it too. So was he. Caliborn was your brother. You over powered him and became the dominant voice. Though that was in a doomed timeline. I figure another you should be coming here soon. A matter of months perhaps.” She giggled.

You quickly wonder if she can smell how uncomfortable you feel. You are terrified and just want out now. You haven't even been in the room with her for fifteen minutes and you can't take it anymore. “I have no idea what you are talking about, Theresa,” you tell her, feeling rather defensive. “I have never heard voices in my head, nor do I feel comfortable with the thought of multiple versions of myself. This is the only planet. There are not others. You and Carter are either incredibly imaginative or incredibly dense. While I applaud your imaginations, if you keep up this facade and pretend that the world you made up is real, neither of you are going to be released out into the world. You and Carter are humans, not troll who go by the names of Terezi and Karkat. I'm sorry, not really. Until you stop believing that those personifications of yourselves are real, I can't give you the okay to leave, no matter how mentally stable you seem otherwise.”

“ _Troll_ sonfications, if I may,” Terezi corrects you. She's standing on her bed now, a marker in her hand. “And these aren't just imaginings. All of the nightmares here, they're all memories of our time on Alternia. I know it sounds preposterous but I swear if you took the time to hear us all out, you would see that we really don't belong here. Her royal fish bitch is just keeping us here against our will. It's her fault that we're all here. She's the reason we all died.”

“I'm sorry, not really, but I'm going to need to cut you off now. I can't keep playing along with your convoluted daydream. I see that you aren't any better and maybe keeping you in here in the dark is a good idea.” With that you leave, flipping the light-switch behind you.

“Well, that was pointless,” you hear Theresa mutter. “And what the hell?” she asked louder. “I'm **blind**!” you hear her shout. You can see her waving a hand in front of her face for emphasis. “Gog, people around here really _are_ dense.” You heard something hit against the door. Most likely a thrown marker. “Also, my blood color is **NOT** red. It's _TEAL_! I _**DO**_ have horns and my skin **IS** gray! I'm not some weird peach color like the rest of y'all!! I am not _HUMAN_ like you! _Also,_ I'm not **INSANE**!!”

You took that as your cue to leave. Really, what you wanted to do was quit but you were joined to work here for four more years because of an agreement that you signed when you started working here.

* * *

=====> Be somebody outside of the Skaia Institution and College Campus now. Be Kankri. Or as you are called in this life, Koby.

You sit on the couch like a proper person unlike others who flop down or just fall on the couch. No, you did things properly in this life, like you did in every life. You pull your phone out of your pocket and text your family. You text Carter first, next you text Nichole, then you text Hannah. You also send a text to Daniel, though you never expect a response from him. You suspect he knows that you would relay everything that he tells you to his brother and you also suspect that he doesn't want you doing that. For what reasons, you have no idea. All you know is that he isn't on the best terms with his older brother or his father. You are thankful that Kharl is his roommate, should Daniel ever have any bad breakdowns at night or anywhere in the facility. You know that Kharl would let Chester know if something bad happened to his little brother. Or something good as well.

You feel your phone buzz in your hand so you look down and look at it. Carter responded.

 

 

**Carter**  
  
**H9w are things? I THINK THERESA IS MESSING WITH THE COUNCILORS AGAIN. MY RIGHT EYE KEEPS TWITCHING AND YOU KNOW IT ONLY DOES THAT IN REGARDS TO *HER*.**  
  
** I SERIOUSLY WONDER WHAT SHE SAID THIS TIME BUT I GUESS IT DOESN'T MATTER THAT MUCH. SHE KEEPS TALKING, WE GET TO STAY HERE LONGER BECAUSE PEOPLE KEEP THINKING THAT WE ARE INSANE.**

You laugh at that and keep reading as more texts from your little brother keep rolling in. Amazing.

 

 

**Carter**  
  
** I KNOW WERE NOT CRAZY FOR REMEMBERING OUR PAST LIVES BUT I AM SERIOUSLY CONSIDERING SHE MIGHT BE INSANE BECAUSE I SWEAR SHE IS ENJOYING THIS. ITS FUCKING WEIRD AND I DONT LIKE IT AT ALL. SORRY. USE OF THE F WORD WAS PROBABLY TRIGGERING TO YOU. I AM GETTING BETTER IN MY TEXTS TO YOU. I AM SWEARING LESS. I AM ALSO SWEARING LESS HERE TOO BUT SOMETHINGS ARE JUST TOO DAMN FRUSTRATING NOT TO SWEAR AT.**  
  
** ALSO, DANNY IS DOING FINE. HE MAY ACTUALLY BE IMPROVING. IM NOT ONE HUNDRED PERCENT SURE SO YOU CANT TELL CHESTER THAT PART BUT I HAVENT SEEN ANY FRESH SCARS ON DANNY FOR THE PAST FEW WEEKS.**

You smile at that.

 

 

**Carter**  
  
** I pr9mise I w9n't tell Chester that last 6it. H9pefully, Danny is d9ing better. I kn9w Chess w9n't tell him himself, 6ut he worries a69ut his little 6r9ther as much as I w9rry a69ut y9u, Nich9le, and Hannah.**

You wait for your phone to buzz again.

 

 

**Carter**  
  
** HE MAY BE GETTING BETTER ABOUT CUTTING OR HE MAY JUST BE FINDING OTHER PLACES TO DO SO. I HIGHLY DOUBT HES OVER HIS ISSUES. HE STILL THINKS PEOPLE DONT LIKE HIM. I GUARANTEE THAT IS BECAUSE OF WHAT HAPPENED IN THE GAME REGARDLESS OF HIM CONSCIOUSLY REMEMBERING OR NOT. ITS LEFT OVER MEMORY RESIDUE. ITS WHAT WE ALL HAVE. THE ONLY PROBLEM IS THAT SOME OF US HAVE MORE OF IT THAN OTHERS.**

You nod. Some of you had more residue than you really should have, that's for sure. You never told your dad but you had memories of your own from what you believe to be your own run as the Sufferer. You weren't ever going to tell him because you knew he dealt with those memories enough. He didn't need to worry about you as well.

 

 

**Carter**  
  
** S9me 9f us have m9re mem9ry residue than we should. Pers9nally, I d9n't think we sh9uld have any. 96vi9usly 6ecause its messing everything up. Y9u d9 kn9w wh9 runs that place, right? It's n9t just the C9ndesce, y9u kn9w.**  
  
** DUH. IM NOT DENSE. IM NOT YOU. FUCK!!**

You shake your head and push aside the insult. You try not to be triggered by that because you know he's under stress and pressure and you know classes will be starting up soon and you're not sure he's ready for those yet with all the other pressure he's under, including counseling. You start to type a response but you get another text from him before you can finish.

 

 

**Carter**  
  
** IM NOT STUPID. I JUST HAVE TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO AWAKEN EVERYONES MEMORIES BEFORE ANYTHING BAD GOES DOWN. BUT IF EVERYONE STAYS CLUELESS WE SHOULD BE FINE. I JUST HOPE I HAVE THE TIME TO THINK OF A PLAN BEFORE EVERYONE WAKES UP. THATS HARD BECAUSE SCHOOL WILL BE STARTING SOON. WE REALLY DONT NEED A MEMORY TRIGGERING EVENT BEFORE WE'RE ALL READY.**

You jump on that one. You don't want Karkat to feel as if he has to stand alone on this.

 

 

**Carter**  
  
** Y9u kn9w y9u aren't al9ne. Dad and I are g9ing to help y9u. While y9ure trying to awaken pe9ple there, dad and I are w9rking 9n the 9utside. N9t every9ne is aw9ken 6ut we are w9rking 9n things.**  
** JUST MAKE SURE THAT YOU DONT DO IT TOO FAST. WE DONT WANT THE FACILITATORS TO BE ALERTED. THE TIME ISNT RIGHT. I HAVE A STRONG FEELING THAT NOT ALL THE PIECES ARE IN PLAY YET.**

You take Carter's last text into consideration. Yeah, you didn't want to move to quickly. This was a game of chess, after all. Grace, class, and strategy.

You haven't gotten a response from Nichole or Hannah yet so you decide to check up on a few others to see how they are getting along. You send a text to Alex and Toby. 

 

 

**Alex**  
  
**Dualiity 2uck2.**  
  
** Memoriie2 bleediing iintwo each other 2uck2.**  
  
** How do you and KK do iit, KV?**  
  
** Wiithout goiing iin2ane, II mean.**  
  
** IIm an a22 and II wiill alway2 bee an a22 and IIm well aware of that and IIm fiine wiith that, but what IIm not fiine wiith ii2 beiing a kiiller. II kiilled AA. IIn my pa2t liife II kiilled AA and IIm not okay wiith that. II am not a kiiller. II already have depre22iion ii22ue2 iin thii2 liife and II dont liike my eye2 or my li2p. People would actually make fun of me becau2e IIm blond and a geniiu2.**  
  
** IIs iit iimpo22iible to bee blond and a geniiu2 or what??? Liike wtf??? Augh!!! And now IIm rantiing. IIm 2ure that2 not at all what you wanted to hear when you a2ked me how II am, but iit2 the truth and II can't open up to my therapii2t about the niightmare2 thiing becau2e theyre not techniically niightmare2.**  
  
** 2tupiid fuckiing memoriie2 reariing theiir 2tupiid ugly head2.**

You stared at your phone. Wow. Alex had a lot to vent about. It was moments like this that made you thankful that you were taking psych classes. You wanted to become a councilor as well. You weren't sure how much it paid but you didn't care. In the long run, the best thing in life was helping others.

 

 

**Alex**  
  
** I kn9w y9u aren't a killer, S9llux. That wasn't y9u. Carter w9uld 6e a 6etter 9ne t9 talk t9 a69ut this t9pic. 9nly 6ecause I d9n't kn9w a lot a69ut y9ur runthr9ugh 9f the game. I kn9w 6its and pieces fr9m talking with Carter and Theresa 6ut that's it.**  
  
** Y9u sh9uld request to speak with Jade. Y9u can 9pen up t9 her a69ut anything. Fr9m what Carter tells me, she seems t9 have retained a l9t 9f her mem9ries as well. She is very mysteri9us a69ut it 6ut fr9m what I've seen during my visits, she is harmless and very pr9tective. Talk t9 her.**

You felt your phone buzz again. It was another text from Carter.

 

 

**Carter**  
  
** AUGH!!!! AND TOMORROW IS VISITATION DAY AGAIN!! IM GONNA GO BATSHIT!! I DONT EVEN KNOW WHAT TO TAKE FOR CLASSES BUT THEYRE MANDATORY AS LONG AS WE ATTEND THE SKAIA COUNSELING FACILITY AND BECAUSE OF THERESA I DONT THINK IM EVER GOING TO BE LET OUT OF HERE!!!!!**

You chuckle. The two have been long time friends even though she drives him crazy. Theresa's older sister, Madeline, is a radical skate boarder who is dating Toby. It's kind of funny how all the trolls ended up in a large group again. Almost as if fate couldn't even keep you guys apart.

 

 

**Carter**  
  
** Chill.**  
  
** Things will 6e fine.**  
** Talk t9 Xander. He can help. He needs s9me9ne wh9 remembers his game run anyway. He's having flash6acks a69ut Aradia and her death. May6e, if p9ssible, hack the system and assign Jade to 6e his c9uncil9r instead 9f wh9 already is.**  
  
** Yes, I'm giving y9u the 9k t9 hack.**  
** *I gasp***  
  
** Amazing, isn't it?**  
  
** WHATS AMAZING IS THAT YOU WONT SHUT UP.**  
  
** BUT I WILL DO THAT. I CAN GET HIS TAKE ON THINGS AND POSSIBLE ADVICE OF CLASSES I CAN TAKE. MAYBE HE AND I CAN TAKE SOME OF THE SAME CLASSES.**  
  
** IDK**  
  
** AND POSSIBLY CONVINCE HIM TO TALK WITH DANNY. I DONT KNOW IF YOU KNOW OR NOT BUT ALEX AND DANNY ARE IN THE SAME BOAT WITH SELF-MUTILATION. I GUESS DANNY WAS ADMITTED TO SKAIA BECAUSE HE ALMOST COMMITTED SUICIDE ONE DAY.**  
  
** I DONT KNOW WHY IM TELLING YOU THIS. I SHOULDNT BE TELLING YOU THIS. HANNAH OPENED UP TO ME ABOUT THIS AFTER A PARTICULAR INCIDENT A FEW WEEKS AGO. SHE FELT GUILTY ABOUT HAVING WITHDRAWLS AND HAD TO TELL SOMEONE.**  
  
** I REALLY DONT KNOW WHAT TO DO BECAUSE KANAYA BECAME A RAINBOW-DRINKER SO ITS ONLY SENSIBLE THAT HANNAH HAS A TASTE FOR BLOOD. I JUST WISH I COULD OPEN EVERYBODIES MINDS AND FIX THIS. THEN WE CAN ALL BE HAPPY. JOHN AND JANE CAN BE BETTER AGAIN AND**  
  
**AND**  
  
** AND**  
  
** AND**  
  
** *AUGH!!!!!!***  
  
** I DON'T FUCKING KNOW!!!!**  
  
** KANKRI HOW CAN I BE A LEADER WHEN I DONT FUCKING KNOW WHAT TO FUCKING DO!!**  
  
***FUCK!!!!*  
  
**

* * *

=====> Be ~~Carter~~ Karkat

You are Karkat and you are currently on the verge of a breakdown. What was it with life and you and the fucking gogdamn fucking universe?? You felt like you were going to have an aneurysm. You just wanted to curl up and cry.

Why was the fate of all of your friends always on _your_ shoulders???

Oh yeah. Because that worked out OH SO WELL IN THE FUCKING **GAME**!!!!

STUPID FUCKING UNIVERSE ALWAYS ON YOUR FUCKING CASE ABOUT EVERY SINGLE FUCKING THING!!!!

How else would you remember everything about your run and every other run you went through in every single timeline? FUCK!!!

You couldn't even **begin** to imagine what the universe had in store for you this time. Although you actually could.

You know that the facility as well as the college are run by Her Imperial Condescension, the Grand High Blood, Jack Noir, Doc Scratch, and Betty Crocker.

FUCK!!!! You really wanted a punching bag right now. You really wished you had a kismesis that you could fight and take some of your aggression out on. That was one of the major things that you missed about Alternia. Humans didn't understand quadrants. You wished the did but they don't.

You finish abusing your pillow then you get up and go to one of the many gyms that were in the facility. You also grab your phone from your bed. A few missed messages.

 

 

**Jacob**  
  
** Y9u kn9w y9u d9n't have t9 d9 this al9ne. I t9ld y9u that.**  
  
** Dad and I are here. Keep a n9teb99k full 9f details 9f wh9 remem6ers what. If they remem6er en9ugh, y9u can let them in 9n what's g9ing 9n.**  
  
**Y9u aren't in this al9ne.**  
**Y9u d9n't have t9 6e the 6ig 6rave Karkat. We're all in this t9gether. Remem6er that.**

Another text rolled in while you were finishing reading the previous ones.

 

 

**Jacob**  
  
** I'll sing it if I have t99. =P**  
  
** AAAAUUUUGGGHHHHH!!!!**  
  
***DONT!!!!***

You knew he wasn't joking about the singing. High School Musical had ended up being one of his favorite movies of all time. If that didn't scare you, you also know that he loves any and all Disney movies. You are sure he even knows every single lyric to every single song in every single Disney movie. You weren't one hundred percent positive on that and you didn't want to test it either.

 

 

**Jacob**  
  
** NO!! PLEASE DEAR GOG DONT!! WONT I GET ENOUGH OF THAT WHEN I VISIT YOU ON CAMPUS ANYWAY?? THEN ILL BE A CAPTIVE AUDIENCE. WHO KNOWS? MAYBE THAT WOULD BE A FUN WAY TO SPEND AN EVENING. I CAN DRAG DANNY AND XANDER AND TOBY AND YOU CAN DRAG CHESTER AND MADELINE AND MINA.**  
  
** OF COURSE I DONT THINK YOUD HAVE TO *DRAG* MINA OR MADELINE. WOULDNT HAVE TO DRAG TOBY EITHER. HED HAPPILY JOIN.**  
  
** IM GONNA TEXT SOLLUX NOW AND SPEND TIME IN THE GYM. IF I DONT DO SOMETHING TO GET MY MIND OFF OF THIS WHOLE CATASTROPHE IM GOING TO LOSE MY HEAD.**

You shoot a text to Xander next.

 

 

**Xander**  
  
** MEET ME IN THE GYM. IM HAVING CLASS ISSUES AND I HEARD THAT YOURE HAVING ISSUES OF YOUR OWN.**

That said, you grab your gym bag and head out.

* * *

=====> You are still Karkat. And suddenly you begin to wonder what that means. Have you ever been somebody other than yourself?

“Hey, KK,” Alex greeted you, dropping his gym bag in the corner. “I got your tektht. What kind of clath ithutheth are you having?”

You groan irritably and continue to assault the punching bag. You think it would be really nice if it hit back. You wanted to do more than just swing at something, You wanted to dodge too. Jump, kick, swing. You're actually missing the weight of something in your hands. For the first time in a long time, you miss your sickles. You wonder if Gavin would be up to sparring sometime soon, given he isn't wasted or high or some shit. Granted, a sober Gavin isn't the best either, but as long as he hasn't stopped taken his meds again, things should be all good.

You stop abusing the punching bag and turn to Alex. He's staring at you and you quickly wonder if he's staring through you instead. You remember what Jacob told you and remember the info you relayed to him as well. You sigh and push your red fringe out of your eyes. “Yeah, I'm having multiple issues and classes seem to be the least of my worries. But if I try to tell most people my other issues, they will think I'm delirious, delusional, and completely off my fucking rocker.” You blink and suddenly wonder if this is the same issues he's having. “But yeah, classes.” You turn back to the punching bag again. “And talk to Danny. Please? I know you don't know this, but he's in the same boat as you when it comes to self-abusive tendencies and, well, you two really could use each other to stabilize.”

You turn glance back at him after having no reply after almost ten minutes. “Okay, you are still there. I thought maybe you up and ditched me.” It was no secret to you that Sollux still despised Eridan, but Alex had no reason to despise Danny. Hell, Danny didn't even consciously remember any of the shit that went down on Alternia and you were quite aware of that. He even had a solid friendship with Victoria, even if she did end up being bitchy to him at times. And he got on really well with ~~Kan~~ Hannah as well.

He growled and you swear you saw his eyes spark even though you know that isn't even physically possible. You're all human now. No trace of troll DNA. You would know. You tested yours in the physics lab on campus last year. “Theriouthly contemplating it, KK,” he growled. “That or thoving your head threw that punching bag.”

“What is so wrong with Danny?” you asked.

Alex hissed at you in response. “You know quite well what the problem with him ith, KK. He killed Feferi, he tried to kill me, he almotht killed Kanaya. **Hell** , he would have dethroyed uth all and turned uth all over to Jack Noir if he had been given the chanthe! You know thith!” he yelled at you furiously. “How fucking dare you try to get me to befriend him when all I keep theeing are fucking flashbackth of everyone fucking dying, KK!” he hissed. “Did KV relay to you that I'm having ithueth keeping memorieth of both liveth seperate?” He started advancing slowly, menacingly. “I flew awake thith morning becauthe I relived a fucking memory of me killing Aradia and her fucking luthuth! Did he tell you that? Did you happen to athk him why I wath tekthting him?” You could see tears in his eyes now. Man, he was really bad and you didn't know what to do. “Did you know that there are timeth I look at Gavin and I thtill thee the thcarth on hith fathe? I thee blood, KK! I thee their blood!” He was panting by the time he had finished with his mini-tangent. He took a few deep breaths and took a few steps back. The mad gleam in his eye was gone now, but it left you reeling. He looked you in the eye with a small smile on his lips. “Now athk me again, KK, what'th tho wrong with Danny?”

You gape and take a few steps back yourself. “No, I'm good.” You glance away quickly. Sollux really could be frightening when he wanted to be, but he was nothing compared to Gamzee when he was sober. So, you take a deep breath and try again. “But I just think you should know that he has scars from self-harm as well.”

Alex narrows his eyes at you. “How would you know I have thcarth?” he asks you suspiciously.

You shake your head. “I wouldn't, but Hannah opened up to me a few weeks ago. She felt really guilty because she had taken blood from Danny. And, while she had enjoyed it, she felt horrible about it. She knew it was something she should have stopped, but didn't. He was perfectly okay with it as well, calling it a two for one deal. He got a much needed physical release and she got blood. About a week later, she came to me and broke down. She cried for almost and hour and confessed that she took blood from you too.”

He stared at you, speechless. “The'th lying,” he declared. “That'th prepothterouth.” But no matter what he said, he wasn't looking you in the eye. His gaze was angled at your feet instead.

“It's true,” you tell him. Hannah would never lie to you. She would have no reason too. She's your cousin and your confidant. You know she holds that same trust in you with everything. You two even trust each other with your lives.

“Thay what you want, KK. It ithn't true.” He glared at you and you glared right back. You could do this all day. Alex didn't scare you in the least unless his was angry or enraged like he had been when he was ranting on about memories bleeding together. “You had been talking about clatheth?” he asked boredly, eyebrow raised.

“Yes.” You nod. “What classes are you taking? I have no idea what to take and I'm slowly going insane because Theresa is being a pain and I have this horrible gut-numbing feeling that I'm never going to get out of this gog-awful place.”

“I'm taking a few hacking clatheth, an advanthed coding clath, that mid-level Japanethe class that's finally being offered,” he smiled. He was probably thinking of Amber and Shinju and finally being able to talk to them in their home language. That thought made you happy. “I'm altho taking a few danthing clatheth courtethy of Toby. I gueth Lati ithn't _jutht_ a rad thkater thith time around. Sthe altho doeth hip hop and break danthing and jath routineth ath well. I wouldn't be thurprithed if sthe began with ballet. I altho bet sthe incorperateth thome of her radical thkate moveth into her routineth ath well.”

“Anything else?” you ask, gathering a few ideas for yourself. You don't do coding, not like Xander does. Sollux was a mad coding genius back on Alternia and you know that hasn't changed one bit. Hacking, on the other hand, you could do.

“Toby and I are taking the mythology clath that'th being offered nektht term ath well.”

“Okay, so how does this sound?” you ask with a smile. You really wanted his opinion on your choice of classes. “Hacking, mythology—because that sounds pretty cool. I mean, technically we're supposed to be the gods of a new world of our own right? I think we should learn what the basics of what to do and what not to do. And I can take a few biology, chemistry, and physics classes to fill a few credits.”

“That thoundth really good, KK,” he returns with a smile of his own. It was almost hard to believe that he had been ready to beat your ass not more than ten minutes ago. But, then again, it really wasn't. Alex really hadn't lost any of his bipolar tendencies. “But I heard from the teacher and from Lati that if we don't get more thtudenth into thome of the danthe clatheth, there won't be enough thtudenth to fill them. I'm already trying to rope Nichole and Mina into the clatheth. Toby even thaid that he'd retake a few jutht to up the headcount.” He took off his dual colored shades and gazed at you questioningly with puppy-dog eyes.

You tried to resist but it seemed impossible to resist the Captor eyes. You even broke for Toby before. “Oh, gog damn it, Captor!” you shout at him. “You're fucking impossible to resist when you do that and I swear you fucking know it!” He smirks at you and you move to smack him. He jumps back out of your reach. You hate being short sometimes. Stupid not-long arms not being long enough to reach the lanky troll. You glare at him for a minute and then sigh. “Okay, fine. Yes, gog damn it. You broke me. Sign me up for your stupid dancing classes.” You were frowning externally but it's not how you really felt. Your eyes were probably smiling even though your lips weren't. You felt relieved and like a small weight had been lifted off your shoulders.

“Thweet!” he exclaims. “Now that that ith taken care of, we thould go back to your room tho you can write down your clatheth and make thure the timeth don't clashth.” You watch as he picks up his gym bag.

You walk over to the lockers and grab your own bag. You follow him out of the gym and to your room. Once you have your classes figured out and written down, you take your sheet down to Jade and let her put you in the system for next term.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully you liked this. Aren't the text messages cool? Here's where I found the codes for that. http://archiveofourown.org/works/6434845/chapters/14729722 It will help you through making your own text messages.
> 
> I don't have a schedule for this, but I should get the next chapter done soon. I have a plan for this. Mostly.


	2. History and Flashbacks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sollux and Karkat talk to Jade, Terezi is a nut, Eridan is trying to get away from his problems, and Aranea has flashbacks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A lot more characters are revealed in this chapter along with a lot of angst. I'm sorry for that, but it's going to happen. Very very angsty. This chapter also contains a flashback to a previous past life. That's something that's going to happen as characters slowly regain their memories. Hopefully this comes to a point where I'm able to explain the flashback more in depth. If not, I may end writing a fic specifically dealing with that time in history. If I have enough flashbacks, maybe I'll write a series specifically for them.

=====> Be Danny.

You are sitting on a couch in one of the many sitting rooms around Skaia. Hannah is sitting across from you, talking with Rose and knitting. You are not sure what she is knitting currently but you have agreed to let her knit you another scarf. You're trying to follow the conversation that Rose and Hannah are having but your concentration is broken when you hear Jade chattering. You look over to see who is chattering to and you see Carter and Alex.

Your stomach drops and you quickly look away as you begin to panic. You don't know why but you do know that Alex doesn't like you. You're not sure why though. It's not like you two have had a bad interaction since you've been at Skaia. Heck, in the two months you've been here, you two have barely had much of an interaction at all. All you feel when you're in his presence is a chilled air, like there's some kind of hate lingering between the two of you. That's how it was when you first met him as well. And the chill gets icier when the both of you are in the presence of Vivian, one of the nurses at Skaia.

You have no idea why but you're pretty sure he hates you. You don't even know what you did.

“Han, Rose,” you say to the girls to get their attention, “Xan is just around the corner. I'm gonna abscond so I'm not the source of his scathing glares.”

Hannah looks up and glances toward Skaia's welcome desk. You know she can't see it because of a wall being just in the line of her sight, but she nods anyway. She turns her eyes you and smiles. “All right, Danny. Come find us later,” she offers.

“Yeah,” Rose agrees, smiling at you as you stand up. “We'll most likely be in the room with Roxy. I think she's hanging with Dirk right now. You're definitely welcome to join us later though, Danny.” She smiles at you warmly and you smile back before absconding.

* * *

=====> Be Jade.

You are sitting at the registration desk, eagerly awaiting new patients or other patients who need help. You smile widely when you see Carter and Alex coming your way. You see a paper fluttering in Carter's hand as he's approaching you. “Hi, guys!!” you exclaim excitedly. “What can I do for you?” You giggle, still smiling.

“Thanks to this pain in the ass,” Carter started, motioning toward Alex, “I finally got my classes figured out for next term.” He hands you the paper that was in his hand and you look it over.

Your eyes widen excitedly. “Oooh, good choices! I'm going to be taking that mythology class as well. I've always been interested in that stuff. It's totally fascinating.” You smile at the boys and quickly enter the data into the system. “There you go. It's all entered. You should be good. It looked like all the classes are still open.” You look up at Alex. “And don't worry, it looks like the dance classes are going to be a go,” you tell him with a dorky grin.

You look back and forth between the boys. “Is there any other reasons that you're here?” You can feel a weird sort of energy coming from Alex, like maybe he knows something you don't know or maybe he just needs to speak with you. “Maybe one of you wants to talk to me?” You watch Carter jostle Alex in the ribs and watch as Alex tries to swat him away. You try to stifle a giggle when Carter ends up on Alex's other side and does the same thing.

“If you don't knock it off, CR, I thwear I'm going to punch you,” Alex growls.

“I don't bite you know,” you say with a smile. “If there really _is_ anything you need to talk about or get off your chest or anything, you can always come to me about it.” Your smile drops and you look around. You see a shining orange version of Dave that looks like it was crossed with a crow. He has a spirit tail as if he was a sprite of sorts. He was nodding at you and giving you a thumbs up. You smile at him and give him a small nod and turn back to the boys. You stand up from your chair and lean in close. “I can keep a secret, you know. I won't tell a _soul_ , I promise.”

Alex looks away, head dropping, gaze angled at the ground. His left hand is crossed over his chest, holding his right arm nervously. “I don't know. I mean,” he looks at you through his eyelashes, head still drooped, “won't you think what I have to thay ith prepothterouth?” he asks quietly. “Not a lot of people believe in patht liveth and all of that crap,” he mumbled.

You tilt your head to the side. “I don't see why they're not possible. I don't know what others think about me, but I think I'm pretty open minded. So, if there really is something that you need to get off your chest, then please do. By all means. I'm always here to listen. I really only have one official case here at Skaia,” you tell them. “He's a doozy and I do monitor him quite a lot, but in my free time, I'm quite willing to listen and help you out with whatever you need to tell me.”

“I...” He shakes his head. His gaze is back down at the floor. “I couldn't. I mean, motht of my ithueth are with otherth here at Thkaia. Patht life ithueth.” He shook his head and let out a pathetic noise of irritation. “You'll probably jutht think I'm making it up or that I'm jutht deluthional. Theriouthly, what are the oddth of ending up at the thame rehabilitation thenter ath lotth of other people from your patht life?”

You contemplate that for a moment even though you really don't need to. You've been speaking to Ariel about all of this kind of stuff lately, that you have this speech drilled into your head. “The probability of that happening are slim to none ordinarily, but that's just the numbers speaking. When you add in chance and fate, the probability goes up. It wasn't by chance that this place was named Skaia.” You hesitate. Something in the air doesn't feel quite right. Betty must be arriving for her shift. You pull back and sit down in your chair, a finger to lips signaling silence. You look back around at Davesprite. You stand up and motion the boys forward. “That's all I can tell you right now,” you whisper after they get closer. “If I told you anymore right now, it wouldn't be safe for anyone. Meet me in the library tomorrow after visitation. It's safer in there and we are freer to talk.”

* * *

=====> Be Alex.

You look at Jade in confusion. That didn't make much sense at all. How was the library safer? It was just another room with ears. You watch her sit back in the chair and gaze at the computer screen again. “I have to go now anyway,” she told you and Carter. “I need to check in on my patient.” She gave you a smile and walked out from the behind the desk. She passed by you and laid her hand on your shoulder when she passed. You watched as she headed to the staircase and up the stairs.

You turn to Carter. “What wath sthe talking about?” you ask Carter. “How would it be thafer in the library? It'th jutht another room with earth. It doethn't make thenthe.”

Carter grinned at you and walked to common room that was just off to your right. You followed him to a couch and sat down. You sat down next to him, opposite Rose and ~~Kan~~ Hannah. “The libraries are the safest places on the whole Skaia campus,” Carter informed you. “Ariel makes sure of that. Some kind of pirate magic hoodoo.”

You look at him with wide eyes behind your dual colored lenses. “Really? Magic?” You laugh. “What doeth sthe uthe? Thome kind of magic dithe or thomething?”

The smirk and slight nod you get in response is a little unnerving. “She's a bit of a Wiccan. She uses white magic to put up protective spells. It's kind of a safe haven for some of us.”

Your eyes really widen at that. You'd been at this place almost five months now and you'd never heard of such a thing. “A wiccan ith allowed to work here? What about the sthe fitsh bitch?”

“She doesn't know. Technically, none of us are really supposed to know. But if look behind her library desk upstairs, she has all sorts of crystals. She has a mini-coldron in her room,” Carter explained.

“And she has books of incantations behind her desk as well,” Rose interjected, not looking up from her knitting project.

“Whoa,” you breath. “That'th really neat.” You shake your head. “But that thtuff ithn't real.” You look around at the other three who are now looking at you. “Ith it?” you ask.

Another smug look sneaked it's way onto Carter's face. “You'd be surprised what kind of stuff is possible in a place like this.”

You glanced around, suddenly not so sure you wanted to be here right now. You're head felt like it was swimming again. You laid down on the couch, stretching your legs over Carter's own legs. You heard him start to yell at you for being a prick. At least you think that's what he said, but you pass out before he continues.

* * *

=====> Jump back a few hours and be ~~Theresa~~ ~~Terezi~~ confused.

You are a troll. You are insistent that you are a troll. You do not have peach skin. You have gray skin. Of that you are certain. You are also blind, but not to truth and justice which is why you are insistent that you have gray skin and are a troll. You can also feel your horns that you know exist on the top of your head. Everybody thinks that you're a little on the crazy side because they can't see the horns that you can so obviously feel sitting atop your head. You know they're not their physically because you can't reach up and touch them but you can feel their weight so that's good enough for you.

You cackle maniacally, hearing Calliope backing nervously out of your room. You love messing with her. You mutter and yell like a crazy person until you're sure she's gone. You cackle again, pretty sure that Carter's eye is twitching, wherever he is currently. It does that when you do most anything. It's like he _knows_ when you are doing something outrageous. You're not sure how that makes you feel most times, but you find it absolutely hilarious.

You put down the non-toxic, flavored spray paint that you're using on your wall. You love Jake. He brings you back some of the most fascinating things from his adventures. You giggle and quietly creep over to your door. You open it quietly and glance around. Awesome! The coast is clear. You pull out your phone and head up to the library.

**Carter**  
  
** M3SS1NG W1TH C4LL1OP3 1S SO FUN!!**  
  
** H3H3H3H3H3H3H3H3H3H3!!!!**  
  
** IM NEVER GETTING OUT OF HERE**  
  
** AUGH!!!**  
  
** FUCK YOU TEREZI!!**  
  
** 1S TH4T 4N OFF3R OR 4 PROM1S3??**  
  
** H4H4H4H3H3H3H4H4**  
  
** *AUGH!!!!!***  
  
** NO!!!!**  
  
** ITS NEITHER!!!!**  
  
** GOG!!**

By the time you get to the library your cackling maniacally. Carter is so fun to mess with.

“Hey Therese,” she greets you.

“Hey spider girl,” you cackle. “Mind if I hide out here for a bit. I think Karkles is totally done with me and my antics.” You giggle more. “I think it's getting to the point where he's gonna come looking for me.”

* * *

=====> Switch points of view and be Ariel.

You're quietly cataloging books when you hear cackling coming toward the library. It got even louder when the person entered the library. What was Theresa up to now?

You look up from the computer. “Hey, Therese,” you greet her, smiling.

“Hey spider girl,” she cackles. “Mind if I hide out here for a bit. I think Karkles is totally done with me and my antics.” She giggles more. “I think it's getting to the point where he's gonna come looking for me.” She cackles more. “I'm having so much messing with Calliope. Oh, speaking of which, I need to use the computer for something.”

“That's perfectly fine. I'll assist you.” You step away from your computer and walk around the desk, following her to the computer area. “What is it that you're looking for?”

“Not a what, a who,” she corrects you, as she leads the way and sits down.. “I need to find out if Caliborn exists. I got some insight to Calliope and it makes me wonder if...” She trailed off and turned around in her chair. “You remember things, right?” she asked you. “I mean, me and Karkat and Gamzee and the cherubs, right?”

You quirk your eyebrows, wondering where she is going with this. You quietly walk over to a chair and sit down. You find it curious how her blind gaze never leaves you as you move. You know that your aren't making any noise and yet it's as if she's tracking you. You curiously lock that information away for another time. “Yes,” you answer out loud, even though you are sure she would somehow know if you had only nodded. “I remember the dream-bubbles and watching all of you guys. I remember Calliope and Caliborn. I remember Caliborn killing Calliope as well.”

“Exactly.” She pauses, thoughtful, carefully choosing her words. “This Calliope, I believe, is the one who over powered her brother.” Silent again for a few minutes. “She from that doomed timeline. It makes me wonder if there is a Caliborn from another doomed timeline who overpowered Calliope. That is, if that even happened.” She gazes at you silently. “I'm just curious if Caliborn even exists, if he got reincarnated as well.”

You study her thoughtfully. “That is a very curious ponderment,” you reply. “Would you like any help with this endeavor?”

“I would say I have this handled but I'm blind and unlike when I was Terezi, I can't simply lick the screen and know what it has to say. Humans don't work like that and you know it.”

You smile at her and proceed to help with endeavor. You turn to your own computer and pull up google. You type in Caliborn and you coupled that with Calliope's last name. The first thing that pops up is a an obituary page with his name and picture of a still-born baby. “Well, I found something,” you tell her slowly. “It's strange, but not too far-fetched, given their past lives.” You continue to stare at the screen, not sure about what you're reading.

“What's it say?” she asks excitedly. “I smell nervousness. Oooohhhh. Hehehehehe!! Are you nervous?” she asks. She turns toward you and you swear you just saw her tongue flicker out of her mouth. “Oh my gosh, you _are!_ ” she accuses. “The great Mindfang is nervous,” she cackles and you freeze.

You slowly turn toward her, a question in your eyes. You look at her and she seems unfazed by anything that just toppled out of her mouth. You quickly wonder if she even realizes what she called you, but you decide to disregard it for now. “I'm not nervous,” you retort. “It's just a bit unnerving.” You scroll through the article really quickly and then sum it up to her. “Calliope had a still-born twin brother. I found the obituary page. Their parents were going to name him Caliborn. At least that's what the article says. It also says that he was strangled by his umbilical cord.” You scan the record again. “At least, that's what the article says.”

“So, she _is_ that Calliope,” Theresa says. “She _is_ the one from that alternate dimension.” She fell silent again, tapping her chin with her fingers. “ _And_ her Caliborn is dead.” She was giggling silently, you could tell that. “Do another search,” she instructs after a moment of silent laughter and thought. “I wonder if he does exist still. It doesn't seem right that all the other players were reincarnated just for one to die.” She studies the screen, as if willing it to give her answers. “Carter believes that this life is a continuation of the previous, that we're still playing the game. In some twisted manner, it does make sense that we still are. We just don't know it. Not all of us have been awakened to it. So why bring a player into the game just to have it die before it could even make a move? It doesn't make sense.”

You followed what she was saying, but at the same time it made sense. Not everything was going to play out the same. But still, it was odd. “All right,” you agree, “but suppose we do find something? What do you even plan to do with it?”

Theresa shrugs. “I don't plan on doing anything with it. But if we find that some version of Caliborn does exist, I plan on freaking Calliope out some more.” She giggles. “She is too easy and it's so funny!!” She cackles and slaps her leg. You wonder if she's going to pass out from laughing so hard but within seconds she is sucking in breath again. “What would be interesting though is if she has a double in existence as well.”

“Or if he was also one in a set of twins and his Calliope was still-born,” you muse.

* * *

=====> Jump back to present time and be Danny again.

You enter the library quickly and silently, turning into the bookshelves, just hoping to get lost. You don't want to draw attention to yourself. All you want to know is what you did to piss off Alex. Does he know you from something in the past? Was he one of your past classmates at one of your many schools? Ugh!! You didn't know and it was driving you crazy. Whatever you did, you want to fix it. But how could you when that fucking blonde asshat wouldn't even give you the time of day?

“Erifish,” Ariel greets you.

You look up. You hadn't even noticed she was standing right there. Now you were face to face with her and you froze. “H-hi, Ariel,” you stutter. You feel yourself blushing. You had originally absconded to get away from people. You didn't think you'd run into her. You inwardly groan. Your room probably would have been a better idea to abscond to. Kharl would most likely be out with Rufus somewhere in the building or with Mina by the pool. Oh gog, the pool. That sounded really nice right about now too.

“What's up, Danny?” she asks, suddenly concerned. She is probably reading you like an open book. All you want to do in that moment is run but you seem to be frozen to the spot. You glance at the necklace that she has around her neck and feel your lips curve into a small smile. She's wearing that necklace you like. It's a cerulean fish and something about it just strikes a chord in you. You have no idea why though. There's a lot of things around Skaia that doesn't make sense to you at all.

“I'm havvin' issues fittin' in,” you tell her. You feel like waving your hand, to tell her that it's really nothing, that it isn't something you haven't dealt with before. It would be truthful. You have dealt with not fitting in places before. You are used to it. With all the moving around you've done your whole life, this is the one part that you should be used to.

Your brother was always the ladies man. He was always bringing girls home. Gog, the noise level that brought along with it was obscene. You cringe just thinking about it.

You, on the other hand, weren't. Chester would jokingly call you gay and ask when you were bringing home a boyfriend. You didn't do that either though.

He kept on joking though and you slowly grew to resent him and your father. During all the moves, all the trips, all the traveling, they never once asked you your opinion, how you felt, if you wanted to stay. You knew that you could have. Your father didn't have to travel everywhere. His job allowed it, it wasn't a mandatory thing. You knew this. He told you this.

You figured it was something Chester preferred to do because it was a way to get away from all the girls who hated him, it was the start of something new. Why should you care? You didn't. You didn't have friends anyway, so it's not as if you were leaving anybody behind. You always told yourself that you could make friends in the new place. It would work out this time. You wouldn't move again. Things would be stable. You kept lying to yourself until you were finally fed up.

One of them came home to you in a puddle of your own blood. A fucking botched suicide attempt. You couldn't even do that right.

The pain, the misery, the regret, the resentment, the self-hate, and the numbness finally built up so much that you couldn't handle it anymore. You had been home alone. You had been crying, trying to get rid of this emptiness, the feeling of hopelessness and loss. All the pain, it had just grown so large you felt it was to consume you. You felt hopeless and desperate, despair and pain. Finally, you took a razor and sliced your wrists. You were done. You were done living, you were done with it all.

Unfortunately, by some miracle, you stayed alive. You had passed out in a puddle of your own blood in the bathroom. After you had regained consciousness, you found yourself in a hospital bed. Your older brother and your father were sitting at your bedside. Your brother held you close and your father hugged you tightly. Your brother told you that if he hadn't come home early from work, you would have been dead.

There were times you wondered what soulless god would have let him come home early. You still find yourself wishing you could die.

Suddenly you feel yourself being held tight. You come back to reality to find Ariel holding you close. You hum quietly and bury your face in her shoulder. It's only then that you realize there are tears falling from your eyes. You realize that you're crying and you quickly hold her tight. “Don't leavve me,” you mumble pathetically into the cloth of her dress.

She quietly shushes you, rubbing your back, and humming a quiet tune in your ear. “I'm not going anywhere,” she whispers, still holding you close. She feels warm and full of life and she smells sweet, almost like sugar but with a soft burnt scent as well sea-salt, reminding you slightly of campfires and burnt marshmallows by the ocean. “Do you want to talk about it?” she asks you quietly.

You nod gently and pull away from her a bit. You catch her gaze and she smiles softly. You smile back, feeling a little bit better.

“Over here,” she says. She grabs your hand and pulls you over the silent reading corner. It's empty and there are large beanbag chairs scattered across the floor. “Here,” she says, plopping down and pulling you down with her.

You land in her lap and she giggles. She puts her arm around your waist, but you feel awkward. You move over, sitting next to her instead. Her arm is still around your waist but you don't mind now. You lean into it and lay your head on her shoulder. “I hate it here,” you whisper, feeling the tears building again. “I wwant out.” You sniffle. So much for holding back the tears “I hate life. I hate it.” You turn your head so that you're crying into her shoulder. You feel her wrap her other arm around you and you cry. You let it out, you let it all out. You're shaking and you want to tell her everything but you don't know if you can cry and talk and still be understood. You like her though. You like it here, in her arms. She doesn't poke, she doesn't pry, she doesn't prod. She just holds you and lets you cry.

By the time you finish crying you swear it's been a whole half-hour. Her sleeve feels soaked with tears and you feel bad because the dress is beautiful and it really brings out her eyes.

“Are you finished?” she asks you gently. “Do you want to talk about it?” She leans down and kisses the top of your head. “You know, I hear it helps if you get things off your chest.” She hugs you tighter to her and you relax in her arms. “You don't have to if you don't want to, though. You don't even have to tell me everything all at once.” She nuzzles your hair and you have this odd feeling that maybe you've met her in a past life or possibly in a dream.

You scoot just a tad bit closer to her, so that your legs are pressed against hers. You're not even doing it in a flirtatious way. You just like the feeling of being close to someone. It's nice. It also makes you feel better knowing that there is somebody who is worried about you. “Do you knoww wwhy I'm here?” you ask her, shifting a bit so your head is still on her shoulder, but you can see her eyes.

She shakes her head. “I have no idea. Everybody is here from all different walks of life. I don't spy and I don't pry. Everyone talks to someone in some point in their journey. Sometimes, I just happen to be the lucky one.”

You smile up at her and for some reason you want to kiss her, a quick peck. But you don't. Maybe it's because of a moment of weakness and maybe it's because she's really nice, but you don't want to muck anything up. You're fine settling as friends. “I tried to commit suicide the wweek before I was admitted here,” you tell her quietly.

She doesn't react like you think she will, like the others did. She doesn't reprimand you for being stupid and selfish. She doesn't say anything. Instead, she pulls you closer. You break eye contact with her as your nose is push into her chest and your head is buried under her chin. Before eye contact was broken though, you could have sworn you saw tears in her eyes. “No,” she whimpers instead. “Aaron Daniel, you have so much more to live for,” she reprimands. You hear her sniffle and feel something wet hit you. You know that those tears weren't yours. “What about your family? They love you. I know your brother doesn't know how to express it, but he _does_.”

You jerk away from her and scoff. “Pffffft. Funny.” You wipe your eyes. “They don't care,” you tell her, standing up. “It's because a them. They were alwways on the movve for wwork things. Havving no mom to stay wwith, I wwas dragged along wwith them evverywwhere. I didn't get a proper childhood, I don't havve friends, I don't havve anywwhere I can properly call home,” you hissed. “Do you knoww that if I make it past the fivve month point here, I'vve broken my record for staying the longest in a single place that I can remember? Dad nevver stayed in one place for more than fivve months. Chester alwways had friends wwherevver wwe wwent, he alwways had girls hangin' from his arms. I couldn't make friends! It was hopeless. It nevver wworked. Wwhy bother? I wwas alwways ripped awway anywway.” You felt tears stinging your eyes again, but this time it was from anger, not despair. “Do you knoww that he used to tease me? Chester wwould joke that I was gay and ask me wwhen I wwas going to bring home my first boyfriend.” You felt your hands shaking. You clenched your hands into fists, willing yourself to calm down but you felt the anger continue to build. “I resented them so much! They nevver gavve me a stable life, nevver buckled down to get a permanent place to stay. If I had friends, I could havve stayed wwith them! My hopelessness wwould nevver have gotten to the point that I felt the only way to get rid a it wwas death.” You hiccuped, sniffled, and kept going. “You knoww wwhat I wwas thinking that day, wwhen I did it? I wwas hopeless, sad, in pain, but also, I got a sick sense of joy knowwing they wwould come home and find me dead. I'm still curious as to what happens to a soul after death. Does it stay, somewwhat attached to the body? Wwould I havve been able to see their reactions to my dead, mutilated corpse? That's a reaction I really wwould havve liked to see.”

You look at Ariel and you see she's staring blankly. You silently wonder if she's even hearing you now or if you gave her a flashback of her own. Fuck. You didn't mean to do that. You are just so angry at your own family.

After your suicide attempt, things had gotten better. It now seemed like they attempted to give a shit. You know they cared, you just resented the fact that it took a botched suicide attempt for them to see how messed up you are.

You sit down next to her. “Look, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to set you off too. It's just, I doubt they care. I mean, I don't doubt they care. I knoww they do. I just hate that it took for a botched suicide attempt for them to see howw bad I am.”

You doubt that she heard what you had said as she buried her face into your shoulder and began to cry.

* * *

=====> Rewind to when Danny enters the library and be Ariel this time.

You're shelving books, still thinking about Theresa and what you two talked about and the computer search. You're glad she left to be honest. You weren't keen on looking up more information about Caliborn. He was creepy, he freaked you out, and you really didn't want to know if multiple versions of Caliborn existed in the timeline. The thought of him being reborn once freaked you out enough. Having him reborn twice was two times too much, in your opinion.

You were jarred out of your thoughts when you heard the library door swish open and then closed. You look up from your shelving to see Danny turn into the bookshelves. “Erifish,” you greet him happily.

He looks up, startled. “H-hi Ariel,” he stutters. He blushes and you notice you two are quite close to each other. He looks unsettled and it worries you.

“What's up, Danny?” you ask him. You raise your hand to the necklace around your neck. You're wearing the blue cerulean fish. You remember it from a past life and from the dream-bubbles. You find it funny how you were able to find it again in this life. You think it's pretty amazing that even in this go around, it's still his favorite necklace, even though he isn't the one who bought it for you this time.

“I'm havvin' issues fittin' in,” he explains sadly. You watch him zone off, most likely lost in thought. You watch him for a minute or so and then hold him close to you when you see tears falling from his eyes. You're not sure if he even notices that he's crying, but you want to comfort him in any way you know how. It breaks your heart to see him distressed like this.

You feel him pull you closer to his chest. “Don't leavve me,” you hear him mumble, tearfully, into your shoulder. He gasps and sobs into your shoulder.

You continue to hold him and you massage his back. You start humming a tune in his ear. You don't remember much of it, but it's something soothing that you remember from Dualscar when you met him in the dream-bubbles once. It's supposed to have a calming effect on sea-dwellers. “I'm not going anywhere,” you say to him gently.

A few more minutes of repeating the same tune and he's calming down. You notice Danny isn't sobbing and gasping anymore. Instead, he's hiccuping and sniffling. “Do you want to talk about it?” you ask him quietly. He looks up at you and you smile warmly at him. He smiles back. It's small but it's something. You grab his hand. “Over here.” You lead him to a beanbag chair in the silent reading corner. “Here.” You plop first and pull him down after you. He lands awkwardly in your lap and you giggle. You put an arm around his waist and then he shifts off your lap, sitting next to you instead, but he keeps your arm around him.

He leans into you and lays his head on your shoulder. “I hate it here,” he whispers. “I wwant out,” he tells you with a sniffle. “I hate it here,” he says so quietly you barely catch it. “I hate life. I hate it.”

Your heart breaks at the sorrow you hear in his tone, the complete hopelessness and defeat. You wrap your other arm around him while he cries into your shoulder. You hold him. You don't speak, you don't ask. You just hold him close and stroke his hair and his back. You continue to hum to him, hoping it will calm him. You lay your head on his and gently kiss his hair. For a brief moment you wish he had horns so you could calm him by massaging them near the tips.

Sometime later, he finishes crying. You ask him, “Are you finished?” while still stroking his back. “Do you want to talk about it?” You lean down and kiss the top of his head, right between where his horns would be. “You know,” you say, “I hear it helps if you get things off your chest.” You hug him even tighter and you feel him relax in your arms. “You don't have to if you don't want to, though.” The last thing you want to do is make him feel pressured. “You don't even have to tell me everything all at once,” you tell him, meaning that he could start off small if he wanted to. You nuzzle his hair. It's still as soft as you remember it being before. You missed holding him this close.

You feel him a move closer to you and you continue to hold him close. “Do you knoww wwhy I'm here?” he asks you, shifting a bit so he's looking up at you, his head still resting on your shoulder.

You glance down and catch his gaze. “I have no idea. Everybody is here from all different walks of life.” You think of yourself, the white wiccan. “I don't spy and I don't pry. Everyone talks to someone in some point in their journey. Sometimes, I just happen to be the lucky one.”

He gives you a small smile and you just want to lean down and kiss him, quick and sweet, but meaningful. You don't move though, because he hasn't even been at the facility for more than two months. On top of that, he barely has any memories. You don't what memories he will regain when they do come back. You don't know if he is the same Eridan you knew or not. He may be from an alternate timeline and may not remember the same events as you. It hurt to think about, but it was true.

He whispers something and you catch it, a noiseless squeak escaping your lips. You don't say anything. You can't say anything. Your tongue won't let you. Tears are filling your eyes and you feel that if you open your mouth, all that would spill out would be sobs and tears. Instead, you pull him in toward your chest and you rest your head on top of his. “No,” you whimper. You hold him tight. You've already lost him once. You don't want to lose him again. “Aaron Daniel, you have so much to live for,” you reprimand him tearfully. You sniffle and blink, tears falling down your face. Your mind jumps to Orpheus and Chester. “What about your family? They love you.” You replay the multiple conversations you have had with Chess over and over in your mind. “I know your brother doesn't know how to express it, but he _does_.”

You feel him jerk away from you as if you had burned him. “Pffffft. Funny.” He wipes his eyes and stands up. “They don't care. It's because a them. They were alwways on the movve for wwork things.” He gets animated now, waving his arms and pacing around, almost in a circle. “Havving no mom to stay wwith, I wwas dragged along wwith them evverywwhere. I didn't get a proper childhood, I don't havve friends, I don't havve anywwhere I can properly call home,” he hissed angrily. He stopped pacing and looked at you. “Do you knoww that if I make it past the fivve month point here, I'vve broken my record for staying the longest in a single place that I can remember?” He turned on his heel and started pacing again. “Dad nevver stayed in one place for more than fivve months. Chester alwways had friends wwherevver wwe wwent, he alwways had girls hangin' from his arms. I couldn't make friends! It was hopeless. It nevver wworked. Wwhy bother? I wwas alwways ripped awway anywway. Do you knoww that he used to tease me? Chester wwould joke that I was gay and ask me wwhen I wwas going to bring home my first boyfriend.”

You saw his hands shaking now and you flashed back to many lives ago.

Your hands were shaking. It was cold. It was wet. You were in tears, a lifeless corpse in front of you, surrounded by a puddle of violet colored blood. You cry out and fall to your knees.

“I resented them so much! They nevver gavve me a stable life, nevver buckled down to get a permanent place to stay. If I had friends, I could havve stayed wwith them! My hopelessness wwould nevver have gotten to the point that I felt the only way to get rid a it wwas death.”

You hear him ranting still, but it sounds far away, almost planets away. You're in another time and dimension completely. Nobody is around to stop and help you. Many trolls are passing by the pair of you in carriages drawn by hoofbeasts but nobody really seems to notice you. They're all too busy with their day to day lives to care.

“You knoww wwhat I wwas thinking that day, wwhen I did it? I wwas hopeless, sad, in pain, but also, I got a sick sense of joy knowwing they wwould come home and find me dead. I'm still curious as to what happens to a soul after death. Does it stay, somewwhat attached to the body? Wwould I havve been able to see their reactions to my dead, mutilated corpse? That's a reaction I really wwould havve liked to see.”

Tears are stinging your eyes and your fingertips feel numb. You feel despairing and hopeless. You had only meant to be gone for the day, but things got held up, people were slow. You ended up getting back to town much later than you had anticipated. It ended up being too late. He was dead now and it was all your fault.

You cursed the timeline for not having proper handheld technology. You could have warned him. You should have warned him. You needed to warn him to stay inside. You knew something bad would happen if you stayed out for too long. You didn't think that you were the only one who could feel it. You didn't think that you were the only one to read the signs of the sober subjuggulator. You thought it was obvious and now you felt stupid. You only had yourself to blame for this. You hadn't shared the knowledge you had with those who needed it.

Now the person who needed it most was in laying a puddle of his own blood. You picked him up and held him in your arms, not caring if the purple stained your favorite yellow shirt. You held his lifeless corpse and cried. You had failed him. You had failed your beloved. But, you promised yourself, you wouldn't do it again.

You held him until you were shivering and numb all over, drenched in the falling rain. You watched as the rain washed away his blood, not caring if you froze to death like this.

You feel him sit down next to you again, the warmth of his body slowly warming you up. You feel like you might be unconsciously shivering from the flashback. “Look, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to set you off too. It's just, I doubt they care. I mean, I don't doubt they care. I knoww they do. I just hate that it took for a botched suicide attempt for them to see howw bad I am.”

You barely heard what he said. You grab his arm and cling, burying your face in his shoulder and crying. By the time you finally calm down, you think it's been an hour. The only reason you've calmed down is because you wore yourself out. When you finally come back around you hear he's humming the tune that you've been humming to him. You find it interesting how it doesn't have the same effect on you as it did on him, but you still think it's a sweet gesture. Especially since you think he's humming the whole tune this time. At least it's a lot more than you remembered.

“I'm sorry,” you apologize quickly. “This was supposed to be focusing on you and your feelings. I didn't mean to break down on you like that.” You glance him in the eye, embarrassed.

Danny shakes his head. “Don't be. I should be the one apologizing. I think it was my tirade that sent you into your fit.” He shakes his head again. “I didn't mean to do that.”

You shake your head. “You needed to rant. You needed to get it off your chest. What sent me into my breakdown was imagining you dead.” Tears fill your eyes again. “Please, don't ever do that.” You lay your head on his shoulder again, trying to avoid the wet spot. “May I ask who it was who made you feel like this today?”

“Alex,” he answered.

You growled low in your throat.

Tomorrow is going to be an interesting day.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did warn you that it was going to be angsty. And oh gog, Sollux is going to be in for it. Also, another character is introduced next chapter. Yay, this is moving along nicely. Also, I will try to reveal more about all the characters' past lives in more chapters. Expect more flashbacks from other characters.
> 
> This will include alternate Ancestor timelines and an alternate Beforus timeline.
> 
> Also, I finished writing chapter 3 at midnight. Three chapters done in one week. I'm excited. 38 pages in all. And still more ideas flowing in. YAY!! My weekly schedule posts are going to be on Sundays. Just saying that now. Thank you too everyone who has read this so far. I know it's not many yet but that's because I don't have many character tags yet. I'm tagging characters as they're introduced into the story line.
> 
> Also, all pairings that I have written are always subject to change. Lol Unless we're talking about the canon Ancestors. I have a few pairings there that won't change, ever: Signless/Disciple, Summoner/Mindfang. I also like the idea of the Dolorosa being a grandmother type. Not old, but the type of person that all the younger characters can come to with their problems.
> 
> Others will be show up later on.
> 
> The Aranea/Eridan part of the chapter was inspired by this.  
> http://homestuckfluffcanons.tumblr.com/post/70149360387/eridan-met-aranea-in-a-dream-bubble-they-hanged


	3. Voices of the Past and Pesterlogs of the Present

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gamzee is introduced in this chapter. Yay!! He is my wild card in this, so anything goes. Gavin and Gamzee are two completely different people.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What I have going on so far with the other characters is Carter IS Karkat, Theresa IS Terezi, Danny IS Eridan (he just doesn't have [conscious] memories yet), Kanaya IS Hannah (no conscious memories yet though), Ariel IS Aranea (with some other faint memories scattered about), Jacob IS Kankri. Gavin ISN'T Gamzee though. Gamzee is Gavin's headmate. Gavin is an OC I made to make this work.
> 
> Edit: Also, thanks to Adohug for pointing out a small slip I made. Instead of "racist", I should have used "hemist" instead because of the hemocaste. So, that has now been fixed.

=====> Hey, here's an idea. Be Gavin. And when I say that, I do mean _Gavin_.

You roll over in bed. You've been awake for a little while but you really don't feel like getting out of bed. Carter told you it's some kind of family visitation day but you don't care. You don't have family. They left you. They dumped you at this place to rot. It's not like they cared about you and it's not like you cared if they cared or not. You just didn't want to be around patients and their families and see the ooey gooey of it all. You would much prefer to be here and not be surrounded by the ickness of families socializing and being sickeningly cute.

You roll over again and glance at your clock. 6:12 AM. Nobody is even here yet. You feel hungry but you also feel sick to your stomach. You're pretty sure breakfast isn't even served until 7:30 or 8:00 but you're not sure you even feel like food. Honestly, you don't know if you could stomach it. You're just glad the voice in your head is silent. It's probably still asleep.

You hear a light snore in the back of your head and you hold back the groan you really want to let out. Yep, asleep. You're good with that. If he's sleeping, you know you won't have to listen to his ridiculous ideas or anything like that. You want to groan but you don't because you don't want to wake him up. What you really want to do is jump out the window. A part of you is morbidly curious if you'd actually die from jumping out a third-story window or if you'd morph into a crazy buff dude with ridiculously long troll horns.

You know Gamzee isn't crazy buff, but you wonder if one of his other personas would rise to the top the same way the Hulk does when Banner tries to commit suicide.

You groan and sit up. You know once your thoughts get to this point that it's probably best to wander around the facility so you really don't do anything stupid. You honestly wonder if anybody would really miss you, but you feel like it wouldn't be right if you just took your own life like that. Those kinds of thoughts just don't sit right with you.

You glance around. Your roommate is still asleep, his red and black hair sticking up at odd angles. He was going to have fun time working that out. Not like it mattered. Ruh used more than enough hair gel to fix that.

You cringe when you hear deep breathing in your ear. You hairs stand on end and you can feel it rumble through your body. You shiver, ignoring it the best you can. The bell that's jangling in your ear helps nothing.

God damn it! Why'd your attention have to fall to friggin' Rufus? Now you know the creature in the back of your head is going to keep breathing down your neck until you killed him. Fucking hell!! You wondered why you were still alive. You also briefly wondered why you weren't living in a white room. You know you are one who is dangerous and frikkin' off your rocker. Personally, you know you're sane, but hearing voices isn't normal, especially when one of those voices keeps telling you to kill the trolls.

Trolls don't even exist. They're made up fantasy creatures who live under fucking bridges. Why the hell would you find them here?

The voice laughs menacingly in your ear, breathes deeply, emphasis on the escaping of breath to sound like a creepy groan and growls. He laughs and chortles. His breathing staggers and then you hear another voice layering into it.

More laughs, more growls, chortles, giggles.

Something high pitched joins in moments later and you jump.

Jangling bells, shaking coins, a honk or two here and there, deep laughs, moaning, groaning. Mirthless laughs that hold no humor whatsoever. Cold, just cold.

You start shivering. You collapse to the ground, shaking. “You don't exist, you don't exist, you don't exist,” you mutter over and over. After a while it just becomes a mix of letters and senseless sounds.

“good. LUCK! telling. YOURSELF! that.”

You hated the voices. You hated the alternations. There was no way they could just be in your head when they did that. They were totally distinguishable and neither of them sounded anything like your own voice. Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!! Fuck!! Fuck!! Fuck!! FUUUUCK!!!!

You began writhing on the floor. You only stopped when you felt a hand on your body. You don't know how long you'd been on the floor but you looked up to see both Rufus and Carter standing over you.

“Dude, are you okay?” Rufus asks you.

It's a pretty dumb question, really. But you nod anyway. “I—I think so.” You blink against the light above you, it's shining in your eyes. “Just another attack,” you say, trying to wave it away, but from the way Carter is looking at you, you can see he knows better. “I'm fine, really,” you tell them, mostly Carter, giving him a wide smile. You twitch when you hear a deep chortle from inside your head. “Fuck you,” you growl. “Fuck off. Go the fuck away!” You reach up and clench your head. You hear a scream from somewhere and moments later you realize the scream was ripped out of your own chest.

“No, you're fucking not,” Carter practically growls. He grabs your wrist and pulls you up, practically flinging you onto the bed near you, Rufus's bed. “You've been skipping out on your fucking meds again!” he shouts accusingly.

God damn. For such a small kid, he sure has strength. You smirk at him, suddenly beginning not to feel like yourself. “I swear I haven't been, Karbro,” you tell him in a voice that sounds nothing like yours, leaning up on your elbows. Although, you wonder if they're _your_ elbows or somebody elses at the moment. You don't feel like yourself, but you don't feel like another, although the words tumbling out of your mouth isn't you. You're sure of that.

You watch the way Carter shifts back slightly and the smirk twists into a leer, suddenly feeling a bit predatory at the way Carter seems nervous. Of you. You don't know why, but it sends a sudden thrill through you. “Honk,” you say, studying Carter's reaction.

He doesn't say anything but falls back into a defensive stance.

“HONK,” your voice bleats, almost the same way a goat will, rising on forward on your elbows a bit more. Now you know this isn't you, but you don't know how to fall back and let the person forward. Though you wonder if you really should anyway.

You watch him. His stance doesn't change but now he's studying you closely. “What motherfucker?” you hear yourself ask, in that tone again, sounding nothing like yourself. “Don't you trust me, best bro?”

And there you go. Now you feel yourself fall back inside your head, a second consciousness slipping past you and rising to the surface.

* * *

=====> Be Gamzee.

The twisted leer on your face softens out to a smirk and then shifts down into a kinder level. In English speaking terms, you're grinning now. You watch Karkat drop the defensive stance but his arms are still raised. You sigh and drop onto your back, visually surrendering to him. “We haven't been missing our meds,” you tell him with a resigned sigh. “They just haven't been making it to me.” You raise your head and glance up. “The mini-genius I'm sharing this body with refuses to let me forward when it's time for us to take them. He refuses to listen to me and thinks I'm a danger to everything around me including him and myself.”

“Which you're not,” Karkat says. You hear his quiet footsteps padding toward you and you feel the bed shift a bit as he sits down next to you. “Unless you're sober.” He sighs.

You hear the bathroom door close to your left and see what you only assume is a human... “Tavros?” you ask quietly. You feel self-conscious asking, but you're really not sure. He looks older and has red spikes in his hair. Totally un-Tavros, but Karbro has red hair, so who knows. In all honesty, you totally expected Karkat to have dark hair if you guys ever became humans.

The boy laughs breathily. Even his vocal tones don't sound right. “Names Rufioh,” he greets you. “Around here I go by Rufus, even though I prefer otherwise.” He shakes his head. “You must mean Trevor.” He smiles at the slightly confused look on your face. “That's his human name. He doesn't remember going by Tavros.” He shakes his head sadly. “You'll be getting that a lot around here.”

“We should get to breakfast,” Karkat suggests. “You can see some of the others that are here and you can get a dose of the meds you need.” He gives you a warm smile and you sit up quickly, wrapping him up in your arms before he even has a chance to move. “Fuckin' douche nozzle,” you hear him rage into your chest. You stroke his hair, calming him down. “You dope, I can't breathe,” he mutters, trying to shift into a postion where he isn't mashed to your chest but you realize that he can't move.

You quickly drop your arms to your side. “Sorry, Karbro. I didn't realize I was suffocatin' ya.” You quickly pet his hair and giggle.

He snarls and you quickly pull back your hand so you don't get bitten. Suddenly, you realize red hair fits him quite well. “Let's go,” he mutters, getting off the bed. He turns and waits until you sit up before giving you a hug. He nuzzles into your neck. “I missed you,” he mumbles.

You smile and wrap your arms around him, petting his hair. “I missed you too, Karbro.”

You two stayed like that for awhile before Rufioh cleared his throat. You looked over to see him standing by the door. He looked anxious for something. Then Gavin mutters something about family visitation day in your ear.

Oh, that must be what he's anxious about. He probably wants to see his family and you quickly find yourself wondering what human families are like. You know Gavin hasn't seen his family much since he was thirteen. He's been bouncing around mental facilities and his family never comes to visit him. You know he started complaining about hearing voices in his head and that's when he got put in the mental ward. You feel bad because you know it's your fault that he's stuck in this mess.

“I'm starving,” you announce. “We should scat.”

The three of you walk to the cafeteria, Karkat pointing places out to you along the way. “Also, there are three people that you need to watch out for while you're here. Betty. Avoid her like the plague. She's bad news. Once she finds that you've awakened, she won't let you out of her talons. She's bad news. I don't know if she works for the Condesce or what, but she'll turn you over to Lord English if she finds out that you've awakened. Thankfully, she doesn't pay as much attention to us as she should. That's how I know she isn't the Condesce.” You notice him glance over at Rufioh. “At least, not the one our parents knew.” Parents? You think about Gavin's parents but neither of them seem anything like your lusus or the Grand High Blood that the voices have told you so much about. You don't think they're related to you in any sense of the word. “Either way, she's bad news and you need to stay away from her.”

 _Nah_ , you hear a deep voice in your head say. _She isn't all bad. She's actually really motherglubbin' cool, yo. Don't let these low bloods fool ya. They're just tryin' a hold you back._

You shake the voice out of your head and ignore what it's saying. Karkat only wants what's best for you and you know that. Whatever he's telling you, you're sure it's to keep you safe.

“Next is Doc. He's the head doctor here. He also has strong ties with Lord English.”

Most of the rest of what Karkat tells you is drowned out by voices and yelling. You see somebody get slammed into a wall and the next thing you know, you're on the ground, low growling drowning out everything else you hear around you.

After a bit you realize there is a hand on your shoulder. You look up at Karkat. At least, you think it's Karkat. He's gray again. And you think you see horns protruding from his skull.

“Are you okay?” he asks you. You nod but he leads you over to the wall anyway. “Sit,” he orders you. He sits down next to you. “What happened? You started writhing on the floor again. Was it the voices again?”

You did as he said. The cold stone felt nice against your back. “You mentioned English and everything started spinning. I didn't hear anything you said after that because of loud voices and yelling in my head. I saw somebody get thrown into a wall and... I don't know. Everything was drown out by low growls after that.”

Karkat studies you closely. “After visitation, you're coming with me up to the library. Did you hear anything else, anything from the voices?”

You pause, hesitant. You think you should tell him, but you don't know. But the growling seemed like a negative reaction to Lord English and that's a good thing. Right? Even thinking his name makes whoever it is in your head growl. What's strange is that the voice sounded like an older version of your own voice. You also want to change the subject because you see that Rufioh is not longer around you guys either. “There was just one voice and it said that she's actually pretty cool. Also, what happened to Rufioh?” Yeah, you figure that you'd throw that in there as well.

Karkat raised his eyebrows. “I think you have more of a looney bin up in there than I previously thought because she isn't even close to cool . She had me—I mean, the Sufferer culled for his beliefs. He wanted equality and peace for all races and she was completely against it. She was all for the hemospectrum and high bloods vs low bloods and all that hemist shit.” He huffed. “She wasn't _cool_ in any manner of speaking.” You watched as he crossed his arms over his chest. “Unless you mean she was an icy bitch because she was.” He glanced down the hallway. “I sent him to the cafeteria. I could tell that he was antsy. He really wants to see Trevor.”

You didn't catch much after _cafeteria_ because the voice in your head was muttering again. You rub your temples, trying to ignore it. It was incessant and new and annoying and you really had no idea where it had come from. “It's a new voice if that means anything,” you mutter.

* * *

=====> Jump back in time and be Rufioh. You're gonna have to wake up because you are currently asleep.

You hear barking in your ear. You wave your hand around, trying to find the snooze button. It's too early for this s*it. You roll over, ignoring Becsprite.

“Yo, dude. I purrealize it's supurr meowrly, but purr roommate is having a fit on the floor. You need to help his ass out if clawssible. Don't make me use my claws on you.”

“Davepeta,” you hear a second somewhat softer voice gently reprimand the first voice. “Violence is not the anspurr to waking up a meowrail. There's no need to be a beach.” There is a silence and you're mentally worried. Usually when they do this it means they're plotting together. Uh-oh. “Although, we could drop so watpurr on him to wake him instead.”

You cringe and groan. Things like that never ended well. You didn't want a wet bed again. It always happened that when you asked the nurses to change your bedding because it was wet again, they jotted something in their notebook before changing your bed. You are pretty sure they have already added bed-wetting to your reasons of needing to be at Skaia. Not to mention Bec won't stop barking in your ear.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!! Fuck!! Fuck!! Fuck!! FUUUUCK!!!!” you hear and you fly out of bed. Holy F*ck, it looks like he's having a seizure. You grab your phone off of the bedside table, immediately calling Carter.

“Oh cod, I do hope everyfin is okay. I hate tuna sea him like this,” Fefeta worried, floating close to Gavin and trying to examine him.

It feels like forever until Cater picks up. He groans sleepily into the phone. “What's up?” he asks groggily.

Oh s*it. This is probably the first time he's been asleep in days and you just woke him up. You quickly wonder when he got to sleep and quickly look over at your clock. 6:30 AM Great, great. And he probably won't sleep tonight again either. “Look, I'm... uhh, super sorry to wake you up like this. I know you probably haven't slept in, uh, days—”

“Get on with it, Nitram,” he says irritably. “You're starting to sound like your brother.”

“You need to come over. Gavin's on the floor writhing.”

“Holy fuck! Is he all right?” You hear a thud and think he may have fallen over. You don't ask though. “What happened? Do you know?” You hear quiet laughter in the background. “Fuck you, Dave,” he growls. “Gavin's having an attack and you're laughing at me because I ran into the gog-damn closet door.” He makes a noise of irritation and is back to talking with you. “Was it the voices? Fuck, has he been taking his meds?” You hear a door click in the background and assume he already left his room. You hear him running now. “Gog damn it. He probably hasn't been! Fuck! What kind of moirail am I if I can't keep him in line? GOD FUCKING DAMN IT!!!”

Your door bursts open and you hang up your phone. You really have no idea what to do so you just watch Carter and the sprites shoosh Gavin and after twenty minutes, he finally came back too.

You get off your bed and walk over to stand next to Carter. “Dude, are you okay?” you ask Gavin. You're pretty sure he's not but you've never had an encounter like this before so you don't really know what to do.

He nods anyway. “I—I think so,” he stutters and you can tell from the way Cater is watching him that he doesn't believe Gavin either.

“Liar,” Davesprite says.

“Just another attack. I'm fine, really,” Gavin tries to assure you, a wide smile on his face.

“Three, two, one,” Davesprite counts down.

“Fuck you,” Gavin growls.

You honestly wonder if he can hear the sprites, but his responses are probably just a coincidence.

“Fuck off. Go the fuck away!”

“Like I said, liar,” Davesprite reiterates at the same time that Erisolsprite mutters, “Thoundth like me on a fuckin' _good_ day.”

Gavin screams bloody murder a moment later and Cater growls.

“No, you're fucking not.” You watch Carter grab Gavin's wrist. He pulls him off the ground, practically flinging him onto your bed. You take a few steps back, completely avoiding the pissed off Vantas and move to sit on Gavin's bed.“You've been skipping out on your fucking meds again!” he shouts.

You cringe. Partially at the volume and partially at the fact that Gavin towers over Carter when they're both standing together, so for Carter to basically just _fling_ Gavin onto the bed scares you big time. Either he's a lot stronger than he looks or he's just really emotional about his friend and has adrenaline racing through his veins right now. You think it's a mix of both actually. Add a small dash of “I'm so fucking done with this shit”, and that's your basic summary of Carter.

“Damn,” Davesprite whistles. “I knew he was angry but daaaammnn!”

“I swear I haven't been Karbro,” Gavin says, leaning up on his elbows. The quality in his voice changes completely and it's a voice that you've never heard before. You see Carter tense up and wonder what kind of experiences the two had together in the past. “Honk,” he says unmoving. Carter, however falls back into a defensive stance. Fefetasprite absconds and hides behind you.

“I don't like this,” she says into your ear. “He's scary.”

“HONK,” he bleats and you can feel Fefetasprite cringe into your hair.

You take that as your cue to get up and get ready for the day. You walk over to the bathroom and hold the door open for the sprites to follow.

After you're done in the bathroom, you just want to go. Being around Gamzee makes you bit nervous but you're not gonna let it show. Instead you walk with Gamzee and Karkat to the cafeteria, helping Karkat point places out and let the sprites keep a look out for anybody who shouldn't know that Gamzee was awakened.

* * *

=====> Be Carter. Your phone is ringing. You'd better answer it.

You roll over and sleepily grab your phone. You don't look at the number, you just answer it. You groan sleepily, moving around so you're sitting up more. “What's up?” you ask groggily.

You hear silence mostly. There's nervous breathing along with it. You pull your phone back from your ear and glance at the ID tag. Rufus Nitram. Rufioh. “Look, I'm... uhh, super sorry to wake you up like this.” You roll your eyes and slide off your bed. You don't know why he's calling but he doesn't usually call you without good reason. “I know you probably haven't slept in, uh, days—”

“Get on with it, Nitram.” You feel irritable. Dave had woken you up an hour previous because he saw himself dying again in another dream. That's how he always woke up every morning. You felt bad for the boy and that was part of the reason you hardly sleep. You want to be there to comfort him when he woke up ashen and sweaty. You even had a bucket in your room for those mornings that he woke up vomiting. The other part being that your own head was always buzzing with hateful commentary about yourself, worry that this timeline would result just like the others, that people would die, and that you wouldn't be able to save them. Most of the time, whenever you did lay down, your brain would come up with and play through any number of countless scenarios and would fall asleep with those scenarios bouncing around your head. They fueled countless nightmares that had you waking up in cold sweats. You sometimes wondered if you were visiting those timelines in your dream-bubble, but you weren't even sure those even existed anymore. You slip off your bed and start walking toward the closet. You can feel Dave's eyes on you as you slip on your slippers.

“You need to come over.” You notice an anxious tone in Rufioh's voice. “Gavin's writhing on the floor.”

“Holy fuck!” you exclaim, running to the closet. “Is he all right?” Instead, you trip over your feet and fall into the doors. Dave laughs and you whirl around, flipping Dave the bird. “Fuck you, Dave,” you growl. “Gavin's having an attack and you're laughing at me because I ran into the gog-damn closet door.” Dave waggles his eyebrows at you and you groan in irritation. You ignore him and turn your attention back to the phone, opening the closet door and pulling out a few articles of clothing. “Was it the voices?” You pull a red plaid shirt onto your bare torso. “Fuck, has he been taking his meds?” You try to recount the past two weeks that Gavin had been here. You weren't sure. Fuck! You should have been paying closer attention to your past life moirail. You feel Dave's eyes on you as you race around the room like a chicken with it's head cut off. You plop onto your bed and pull on a pair of pants. You slip on a pair of slippers and exit the room.

You're practically running down the hall, stressing as you go. “Gog damn it. He probably hasn't!” You were still going over your memories and you still wasn't sure if he had or hadn't. You felt guilty for not paying closer attention. “Fuck! What kind of moirail am I if I can't keep him in line? GOD FUCKING DAMN IT!!!” You really didn't care that it was only 6:50. Breakfast started in another forty minutes and they could all suck your bulge. This was your best friend who you were panicking about. That had to count for something and they could kiss your ass if they had any kind of issues with your noise level.

You burst into the room without knocking to see Gavin writhing on the floor. “Shit!” You kneel down beside him and try to shoosh pap him. It would be easier if he would stay still instead of curling in on himself and uncurling at random. Fuck!

You really wonder what's going on in his head. A few random laughs exited his lanky form. None of them had sounded the same. One was deep and ominous and sounded more like the Grand High Blood than either Gavin or Gamzee. You took a deep breath, trying not to panic. Fucking Messiahs. You knew it was them. The second laugh was high and heartless. It had no warmth whatsoever. The third was a cackle that didn't sound right coming from Gavin's form at all.

You almost broke down tears, your mind jumping to the worst possible conclusion. You were going to lose your best friend again and there was nothing that you could do to stop it. Fuck!! This wasn't happening! Not again. You weren't gonna let it happen again. Not on your life.

Deep breath, Vantas. Deep breath. You can do this. If you can't save him, you can't save anyone. You're such a pathetic excuse for a troll, it's sickening. You shouldn't even be allowed to have friends. You're such a fucking failure. It's no wonder Kankri also had a run as the Sufferer. You failed miserably. You weren't able to save a planet yet alone one person.

That was it. That's where you drew the line. You snapped. “Snap out of it, damn it!” you shouted at Gavin. You brought your hand back and smacked him across the face.

His stoic face twitched to life, a twisted grin forming on his lips.

“God, no. Fucking damn it! Damn it all to **hell!!** ” You grab him by the shoulders and shake him. “I swear to _**GOD**_ that if you don't let him come to, I'm going to figure out a way to draw you demons out of him and kill you all myself.” That was it. You were fucking done and you weren't taking any more of this fucking shit from anybody. It was bad enough that you knew this place was run the Condesce herself and that she had Jack Noir as her right hand. You also knew the Doc Scratch was the head nurse of this fucking place. You had no idea where Lord English fell into any of this but you didn't care. You knew he existed. That was enough for you. “I am not going to lose my best fucking friend to you fucking Mirthful Messiahs like I did in the past! I am not fucking reliving this shit!” you hiss. You pull your hands back from him and you see him opening his eyes.

Rufioh gets off his bed and stands next to you. “Dude, are you okay?” he asks.

It's a stupid question but you are curious as to how Gavin answers it.

“I—I think so,” he stutters.

_Liar._

You watch him blink against the light but you don't move to turn it off.

“Just another attack,” he tells you but you know better. No normal attack happens like that. No normal attack involves demons with different tones of laughter. “I'm fine, really,” he says again, but you know it's utter bullshit. No, that was them. You know he's not fine and you know he's not being truthful. Just like he wasn't being truthful on Alternia and you all lost the game because of it. He reaches up and grabs his head, a scream ripping from his chest.

You reach down and grab his wrist. “No, you're fucking not,” you growl and practically fling him onto Rufioh's bed. You're too fucking angry to be impressed with yourself since Gavin typically towers over you when you two are standing near each other. “You've been skipping out on your fucking meds again!” you shout accusingly.

Gavin smirks at you. “I swear I haven't been, Karbro,” Gavin tells you. Although, that wasn't Gavin's voice. You knew that voice and right now it had your insides twisting around themselves. Gamzee. He leans up on his elbows and you take the smallest step make to compensate. Although, judging from the way smirk on Gamzee's lips twisted into a leer he saw the slight shift in your posture. Fuck. That's it. You were screwed. You weren't even sure if this was really Gamzee. What if it was one of the demons posing as Gamzee? Fuck!! You really wished you had your sickles right now. “Honk,” he says and you fall back into a defensive posture, ready for him to strike.

But it doesn't come. He doesn't move. He's just studying you. Fuck!! You already gave yourself away. You're just a fucking defenseless flesh-bag who can't defend himself let alone a whole fucking planet.

“HONK,” he bleats, rising forward on his elbows more.

You feel the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end but you don't move. Neither does he. You study him closely and you feel him studying you back.

“What motherfucker?” he asks in a normal Gamzee voice. You feel yourself start to relax but you won't let yourself just yet. Defenses never come down until you're absolutely sure. “Don't you trust me, best bro?” You watch the leer shift back down into a smirk and then into the dopey grin you're used to seeing on Gamzee's face.

You want to run and jump into his arms and just hold him for hours but you decide it's best if you just relax. Your arms are still raised though, just in case you're wrong.

Gamzee sighs and drops back onto the bed, a sign of troll surrender. You lower your arms. He wasn't going to fight. He couldn't see you. He left himself open for an attack. To do that was also a sign of trust. “We haven't been missing our meds,” he says with a resigned sigh. “They just haven't been making it to me.” He lifts his head and glances at you. “The mini-genius I'm sharing this body with refuses to let me forward when it's time for us to take them. He refuses to listen to me and thinks I'm a danger to everything around me including him and myself.”

“Which you're not,” you say. You walk over to him on the bed and sit down next to him. “Unless you're sober.” You sigh. You reach your hand out to stroke his hair but your attention is diverted when the bathroom door opens.

It grabs Gamzee's attention as well. “Tavros?” he asks quietly, looking over at Rufioh. Your hand falls back to your side. Of course he'd still have a flushed crush on Tavros.

Rufioh laughs. “Names Rufioh. Around here I go by Rufus, even though I prefer otherwise.” He shakes his head. “You must mean Trevor. That's his human name,” Rufioh explains, seeing the confused look on Gamzee's face. “He doesn't remember going by Tavros.” He shakes his head saddly. “You'll be getting that a lot around here.”

You see Gamzee's expression drop slightly. You hate seeing him sad so you quickly glance at the clock. 7:33 AM Breakfast has begun. “We should get breakfast,” you suggest. “You can see some of the others that are here and you can get a dose of the meds you need.” You give him a warm smile and he sits up quickly, startling you. He has his arms wrapped around you before you even had a chance to move. Your pressed into his chest, suffocating because his pajama top is trying to move into your airways. “Fuckin' douche nozzle,” you say to him, trying to push out of his grasp to no avail. You feel him stroking your hair and you really want to bite him right now. You try to pull away from his chest so you can and that just makes it worse for you. “You done,” you mutter into his pajamas again. “I can't breath.” You try to move again, but you're stuck. He finally drops his hands. You pull away and suck some much needed air into your lungs.

“Sorry, Karbro. I didn't realize I was suffocatin' ya.” He quickly pets your hair and giggles. You snarl in response and he quickly pulls his hand back to himself. Smart Gamzee.

“Let's go,” you mutter, standing up. You turn and see Gamzee sitting up, his legs over the bedside. You give Gamzee a much needed hug, one where you can breath. You nuzzle into his neck, tears pricking at the corners of your eyes. “I missed you,” you mumble, willing your tears not to fall even though he can probably hear them in your voice.

He reaches his arms around you and pets your hair. “I missed you too, Karbro,” he says sweetly, his lips against your hair. You two stayed like that for a little while, enjoying each other's embrace, until Rufioh cleared his throat. He was standing by the door, obviously antsy to get going.

Family visitation doesn't start until after breakfast is finished and cleaned up. Visitation usually takes place in the dining room and then people move around to elsewhere, like outside or to the pool. Usually, places with cameras so you can be monitored. You preferred the term “being watched” because you know that's what they do. The only place that isn't on constant watch is the library. You know this from personal experience because you've tried to watch the feed. You don't know how Aranea does it, but she's got that place secured from the “all-seeing” eye of the Condesce.

“I'm starving,” Gamzee says and stands up. “We should scat.”

You let go of him. Interesting choice of wording in your opinion, but you shrug it off. It's probably something he picked up from Gavin. You follow the two of them out of the room, clicking off the light as you exit. You make your way to the cafeteria, pointing places out to Gamzee and explaining things along the way.

You stay alert and keep an eye out for Betty, Doc, and Jack. You have seen none of them this morning and you feel relieved. Although, you are aware that the conversation needs to come to a close before you enter the cafeteria. You find it curious how they don't have the halls as well gauged as they do the inside of some of the rooms around the facility.

They, of course, do not have cameras in each of the individual rooms as that would be an invasion of privacy. Although, you do know of two cases that are exempt to that rule, but you know only the specific nurse who works on that case is the only one allowed to keep constant view of the feed.

“Also, there are three people that you need to watch out for while you're here. Betty. Avoid her like the plague,” you explain. “She's bad news. Once she finds that you've awakened, she won't let you out of her talons. She's bad news. I don't know if she works for the Condesce or what, but she'll turn you over to Lord English if she finds out that you've awakened. Thankfully, she doesn't pay as much attention to us as she should. That's how I know she isn't the Condesce.” You glance over at Rufioh. “At least, not the one our parents knew. Either way, she's bad news and you need to stay away from her. Next is Doc. He's the head doctor here. He also has strong ties with Lord English. Never, in any circumstance, Gamzee, should you reveal yourself to him. Don't let him know that you have memories of your past life. Do not let him know that you are headmates with Gavin. If you—”

“Um, Carter...?” Rufioh grabs your shoulder and pulls you back.

You almost snap at him for interrupting you but then you see why he did. Gamzee is on the ground, writhing again. Shit. You can't make this kind of a scene in the hall. You're thankful that your room isn't monitored, but you know it's different for the halls. They just don't have audio recording. You look at Rufioh. “Go to breakfast. If we don't make it, we don't make it. Just make sure you grab Gavin's meds. He needs them horribly.” Rufioh nods and you watch him walk off. You turn your attention back to Gamzee. “Snap out of it,” you mutter. God, why was today of to such a bad start? You lay your hand on your shoulder and for some reason this brings him back around.

He blinks several times, probably adjusting to the lights again. “Are you okay?” you ask him. He nods and you take his hand, leading him over to a wall. “Sit,” you tell him. You watch him sit before sitting down next to him. The cool wall feels nice to your heated skin. “What happened?” you ask him. “You started writhing on the floor again. Was it the voices again?”

“You mentioned English and everything started spinning,” he recalled to you slowly. “I didn't hear anything you said after that because of loud voices and yelling in my head. I saw somebody get thrown into a wall and...” He hesitated and then shrugged. “I don't know. Everything was drown out by low growls after that.”

You turn your head and study him. You don't know if that's normal for Gamzee. You really don't know about the voices he heard on Alternia so you're not really sure if this is out of the ordinary for Gamzee or not, but he usually didn't collapse for no reason. You wonder if it's lack of slime doing it to his body or what, but Gavin's body wasn't addicted to shit like that, so that explanation didn't make sense either. You know he heard voices with or without the slime but growling and yelling? You have no idea, but you think it's best if you get Aranea's advice on the situation. “After visitation, you're coming with me up to the library.” Sollux could suck your bulge. You really didn't care if he was comfortable around Gamzee and Gavin or not. This was a new life, a new time around, he needed to give Gavin and Danny a chance, so he could shove it in his nook for you care. “Did you hear anything else, anything from the voices?”

He pauses and you wonder why. It shouldn't be that hard to say no, so you wonder what they said to him. “There was just one voice and it said that she's actually pretty cool.” Your eyebrows raise at that. Was that the Lord English part talking to him? But wouldn't he have mentioned if it was a different voice who growled at English's name just being spoken? What the hell? That didn't make sense. “Also, what happened to Rufioh?”

“I think you have more of a looney bin up in there than I previously thought because she isn't even close to cool,” you answer him. “She had me,” you catch yourself, “I mean the Sufferer culled for his beliefs. He wanted equality and peace for all races and she was completely against it. She was all for the hemospectrum and high bloods vs low bloods and all that hemist shit.” You huff. “She wasn't _cool_ in any manner of speaking.” You crossed your arms over your chest. “Unless you mean she was an icy bitch because she was.” You glanced down the hall. “I sent him to the cafeteria. I could tell that he was antsy. He really wants to see Trevor.”

“It's a new voice if that means anything,” you hear him mutter beside you. You look over at him and he's rubbing his temples. Oh, great. That doesn't look good. He probably has a migraine now. And a new voice? You wonder what that means. If that's what's causing his migraine than that surly isn't a good thing. You need to get in touch with Aradia and fast. Speaking of migraines and Aradia, you should probably check base with Sollux and see how he's doing. You haven't checked in on him since Hannah and Rose helped you carry him back to his room.

* * *

=====> Be Sollux/Alex/whoever. You didn't know at this point. Things keep blurring together and memories keep getting muddled. Like, for instance, in what timeline did you have a minor kismesis-ship with Latula? You didn't hate her. You could never hate her. Sure she got annoying when she bothered you when you were trying to code but otherwise she was like a sister you had and didn't want.

You wake up from a dream. You don't remember anything about except that you were reaming Gamzee out for some shit that he did. You think you had him pinned to the wall with your psionics. You remember yelling at him and him growling back at you. It was low, it was evil, it was animalistic. You also remember loud weeping in the background. You didn't recognize the voice nor were you really focusing on it. Gamzee was your main focus and you don't even really know why.

You roll over and try to go back to sleep but you can't. You keep thinking about later that day and Aradia—Amber—whatever. You miss like crazy. This will be the first visitation day you've had since she left Skaia. You didn't like it.

You sighed and glanced at your clock. 3:13 AM. You quickly wondered what time it would be in Japan. You also realize you haven't talked to her since she left about a week ago. You know that her mom and sister had been setting things up and getting things ready for her there so she could go to college there when school started back up. She didn't even tell you she had gotten in, although that must have been an unspoken fact since her family was getting things ready for her to move back home.

You sit up and slip out of bed, moving quietly across the room to your computer. You logged onto Persterchum and found that Amber was online.

 

**twinArmageddons [TA] began trolling  apocalypseArisen [AA] at 3:18 AM**

** TA: Hey aa. 2orry for not beeing on here much recently **  
** TA: II feel bad for not even checkiing out how your fliight went**  
** TA: IIve ju2t been more depre22ed siince you left**  
** TA: II mean iit wa2nt 2o bad at fiir2t. II thought you would 2tiill bee able two come vii2iit**  
** TA: You know, on vii2iitatiion day**  
** TA: II diidnt know that youd bee moviing to Japan.**

You pause, thinking about later today. It just wouldn't be the same without her today. You knew your depression would be worse because you'd see Toby and Madeline and you'd be alone. You already had major depression and self-hate issues. This wasn't going to help things at all. You knew that. Maybe you'd just hang out in the library today. You knew your curiosity would get the best of you though. You know that you'd get to wondering if anybody missed you or if anybody even noticed that you were missing.

Probably not.

 

** TA: Twoday ii2 goiing two bee my fiirst vii2iitatiion day wiithout you there **  
** TA: …**  
** TA: …**  
** TA: There2 2omethiing el2e II want to 2ay but iit2 ju2t petty jealou2y**  
** TA: Toby**  
** TA: Madeliine**  
** TA: II thiink you can see where thii2 ii2 goiing**  
** TA: Can II ju2t hiide out iin the liibrary twoday?**

You sit back and hope Aradia doesn't reprimand you for wanting to be antisocial today. You hope she doesn't, but you know that she only wants the best for you. You know that she'll tell you to at least try to socialize.

After a few minutes of silence you wonder what time it is Japan. You look at the clock in the corner of your laptop. It's 3:33 AM where you are. You pull up google and check the time difference between Japan and Ohio.

Thirteen hours.

You didn't let that bother you. You don't believe in that. Thirteen is just another number to you. It doesn't imply doom. No. Not to you. Not in any way.

Your breath catches in your throat when you see her replying. It was stupid of you to add that last line. But you also know that she'll ask how you are doing anyway. You feel excited and slightly queasy though. You're expecting her to reprimand for your lack of social desire but at the same time you know she would understand.

 

** AA: I miss y0u t00, h0n! *I wrap my arms ar0und y0u in a hug and h0ld y0u cl0se* **  
** AA: Its s0 different here. My flight went well. But fitting in is difficult.**  
** AA: D0nt get me wr0ng. The pe0ple are really nice here but missing every0ne is hard.**  
** AA: Remember this th0ugh.**  
** AA: I am always there with y0u my little h0ney bee.**  
** TA: 2top. Youre already makiing me tear up.**

Sollux wiped at the tears that had started falling, sniffled, and continued typing, this time with a smile.

 

** TA: II really wiish II could giive you a phy2iical hug riight now. **  
** TA: IIm ju2t not lookiing forward two 2chool. IItll bee wiithout you and II dont want two think about that. II dont know who my roommate2 wiill bee and IIm afraiid theyll bee people that II dont liike.**  
** AA: Shhhhh. D0nt w0rry ab0ut that right n0w h0n. Y0u still have a few m0nths bef0re then. And remember, y0u guys at Skaia have first pick 0f r00mmates.**  
** AA: Y0u c0uld request Carter and T0by.**  
** TA: No. Carter would probably reque2t Gaviin and II wouldnt want that**  
** TA: II get two many fla2hback2 around hiim.**  
** TA: II 2ee color2 and blood and the ga2he2 on hii2 face and II ju2t cant do iit**  
** TA: II already wake up wiith nightmare2 of memoriie2**  
** TA: Liike kiilliing you**  
** TA: Whiich II dont even remember doiing and ju2t**  
** TA: *II break down in tear2***  
** AA: *I str0ke y0ur back and pet y0ur hair* I wish y0u still had h0rns. Massaging in between th0se always calmed y0u d0wn**  
** TA: *II clo2e my eye2 and lean iintwo your pettiing2* II 2tiill feel my horn2 2ometiime2 2o II guarantee iit would stiill calm me down.**  
** TA: Thank you, aa. Thii2 helped.**  
** AA: 0u0**  
** AA: Y0ure buzzing arent y0u?**  
** TA: Guilty**  
** TA: Lol. You know me two well.**  
** AA: And d0nt w0rry. Im still here. Im n0t g0ing anywhere.**  
** AA: I t0ld y0u we'd see each 0ther again and we have.**  
** AA: I'm thankful for that.**  
** AA: Als0 my death wasnt y0ur fault. Y0u were under the influence 0f mind h0ney. It wasnt y0ur fault.**  
** AA: Als0 it was meant t0 happen**  
** AA: Y0u need t0 remember that S0llux**  
** AA: Everything that happened was preemptively designed t0 happen**  
** TA: That doe2nt make the niightmare2 any le22 viiviid, aa**  
** TA: Al2o, do you remember a tiimeliine where Latula wa2 my kii2me2ii2?**  
** TA: II had a dream after II pa22ed out ye2terday and iit wa2 about Latula.**  
** TA: 2he called me about 2omethiing and 2he 2aid 2omething about u2 being kii2me2ii2 and even though we werent moiiraiil2, 2he really needed 2omebody two talk two.**  
** TA: II dont remember the ba2ii2 of the dream but there ii2nt anythiing iin my 2ubconsciiou2 that lead2 me two 2ee her a2 a kii2me2ii2**  
** TA: 2he2 Miituna2 mate2priit. II 2ee her a2 a 2i2ter.**  
** TA: Albeeiit, a 2ii2ter that II never wanted but 2tiill ended up wiith.**  
** TA: II dont hate her. II could 2ee her a2 a moiiraiil iin2tead.**  
** AA: I cant answer that f0r y0u S0llux**  
** AA: 0nly y0u can answer that f0r y0urself**  
** TA: And there you go agaiin wiith the cryptiicii2m**  
** TA: Al2o, IIm okay. Thank2 for a2kiing.**  
** AA: S0llux I kn0w y0ur 0kay**  
** AA: Id als0 kn0w if y0u werent**  
** TA: *II cro22 my arm2 over my che2t* II know you 2ay that but II wonder how you can 2ay iit 2o ea2iily**  
** AA: Because if s0mething extremely bad happened t0 y0u Id feel it.**  
** AA: There w0uld bee a disturbance in the f0rce my little h0ney bee**  
** AA: I l0ve y0u s0 much S0llux.**  
** AA: I d0nt kn0w what I w0uld d0 if anything seri0usly happened t0 y0u**  
** TA: *II buzz quiietly, viibratiing sliightly* II love you two, aa.**  
** TA: *II lean agaiin2t you, layiing my head agaiin2t your che2t***  
** TA: II hate feeliing jealou2 of Miituna and Latula. IIm not lookiing forward two later twoday.**  
** AA: Y0u d0nt have t0 hang ar0und them all day if y0u d0nt want t0. Just s0cialize a little bit f0r me and tell the 0thers I say hi.**  
** AA: If it starts t0 bec0me 0verwhelming, then m0ve t0 the library**  
** AA: B00ks always calm y0u d0wn**  
** AA: D0nt stress y0urself 0ut, S0llux**  
** TA: IIm glad we found each other again two aa.**  
** TA: Youre two good two me.**  
** AA: Well s0meb0dy has t0 d0 it seeing as y0u w0nt d0 it y0urself**  
** TA: IIm 2orry IIm 2uch a burden 2ometiime2**  
** AA: *I tilt my head t0 the side in c0nfusi0n* What d0 y0u mean by that?**  
** TA: My biipolar, my depre22iion, my OCD. *I wave my arm2 around and ge2ture two my whole body***  
** TA: Me**  
** TA: All of me**  
** TA: IIm 2orry**  
** AA: S0llux, st0p.**  
** AA: D0nt bee s0rry**  
** AA: Y0u have nothing to bee s0rry f0r. Y0u are y0u. D0nt bee anything different.**  
** AA: Im g0ing t0 c0me see y0u again. I d0nt kn0w when yet but I will. Pr0mise me you w0nt have changed by then.**  
** TA: *II nod* II wont change.**  
** TA: For you II wont change**  
** AA: F0r y0urself t00 0u0**  
** AA: I really need t0 find a better smiley face**  
** AA: l0l**  
** AA: Als0 y0u sh0uld g0 back to bed n0w. D0nt stay up f0r h0urs c0ding.**  
** AA: N0 0ne is there t0 watch y0u n0w that Im g0ne**  
** AA: Y0u need t0 take care 0f y0urself f0r me.**  
** AA: 0kay? Pr0mise me you can d0 that**  
** TA: II promii2e aa. For you. IIll take care of my2elf for you.**  
** AA: *I give y0u a kiss 0n the f0rehead.* Thank you my h0ney bee 0u0**  
** AA: G00dnight and talk t0 me anytime. I'll resp0nd when I can**  
** AA: <3**  
** TA: Goodniight aa**  
** TA: <3**

**twinArmageddons [TA] ceased trolling  apocalypseArisen [AA] at 4:37 AM**

You yawned and moved away from your computer. You walked back to your bed, stopping by Mituna's bed. You lean down and give him a kiss on the forehead. “Goodnight, Tuna,” you whisper. You walk back to your own bed and crawl in, a sudden wave of calm washing over you. You don't know how she did it, but you knew that was Aradia. “Goodnight my angel,” you whisper into the darkness before dozing off again.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for showing you three very in-depth sides of the same situation. I had to. I wanted to show what was going on in everybody's heads including showing the sprites. Tavrissprite wasn't there. I had been planning on just not letting that one make an appearance, but I found a way it can make an appearance in a good way. Tavris, unlike the rest of the sprites, doesn't reside in Skaia with Rufioh.


	4. Families, Reamings, and Oh Dear Gog

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A few OC's are introduced, Eridan warns Nepeta to be careful about talking to people online, Cronus panics and is calmed down by Kankri, Sollux disassociates, and Karkat flips his shit on Sollux. Family day chapter 1. Isn't it lovely? XD

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the longest chapter at 18 pages. I think I found a nice cut off point. Cliff-hangers. Yay! :) Lol. This is going to be my longest piece of work on here thus far. The end of this chapter marks 55 pages. :) I'm happy. I also have next weeks chapter done and waiting to be posted. And half-way done with chapter 6. Yay!!
> 
> Sorry about the OC's. I know not many people like them. None of them are Mary Sues. They all have flaws. They are not self-inserts. They are actually needed for the plot.
> 
> So, like Gamzee and Gavin are headmates, Amrath, Faette, and Ava are also headmates. They're form is named Gemma. Just clarifying that now so it doesn't get complicated. More things about them will get revealed later on. They played their own game of Sburb/Sgrub with another girl who will be revealed later on in the story.
> 
> All three of them have quirks. Faette's quirk is typing her I's as 1's, her a's as @'s, and for and any homophone as four. Amrath is close to Eridan's. He types u's as v's, w's as vv's, and v's as vv's. He pronounces them all as V sounds too. Ava writes all of her I's as *'s.

=====> Be Nichole. It's 5AM on Friday and you're wide awake. You can't sleep so you go online. AC, troll OP.

**AresnicCatnip [AC] started trolling  orchestratedParadox [OP] at 4:57 AM**

**orchestratedParadox [OP] changed their handle to  incandescentStarlight [IS] 4:58 AM**

**AC: :33 < *AC bounces around excitedly***  
**AC: :33 < I'm so excited!! I get to s33 my sister today!!**  
**IS: +: > 1m h@ppy four you. 1 know you've been missing her like crazy.**  
**IS: +: > Couldn't sleep huh? *1S st@rts bounc1ng w1th @C***  
**AC: :33 < Nope :33 Couldn't sl33p.**  
**AC: :33 < Do you know who you're rooming with yet?**  
**IS: +: > No 1de@. 1 h@ven't put 1n @ request yet.**  
**IS: +: > 1 me@n, other th@n you, 1 h@ve no 1de@ who even goes to Sk@1@.**  
**AC: :33 < *A light bulb lights up above AC's head and she stops bouncing***  
**IS: +: > *@C stops bounc1ng so @bruptly that 1S h@s to avoid l@nding on her***  
**AC: :33 < You should come visit Skaia soon. Visitation day is every two weeks and the head of Skaia has daily showings of the school. You should totally come visit the school. I bet if Mina and I were to request to show you around, they'd let us.**  
**AC: :33 < They wouldn't have to know that I met you online or anything. I could say that your a friend from a long time ago or something.**  
**AC: :33 < *AC starts bouncing in excitement* Oh this is going to be so fun!!!**  
**AC: :33 < Imagine if we *were* living together!!! We'd have so much fun together!!! We could LARP together and it would be so much fun!!!**  
**AC: :33 < *AC stops bouncing and tilts her head to the side curiously* You do LARP don't you? Haven't we had this conversation befur.**  
**IS: +: > *1S nods exc1tedly* Yep and yep. 1 do and we h@ve. You told me about Pounce.**  
**IS: +: > 1 h@ve @ few ch@r@cters of my own. 1 might need help w1th outf1ts though. 1 h@ve them mostly thought out but 1 h@ve no w@y of @ctu@lly f1nd1ng p1eces four 1t and 1 c@n't m@ke the outf1t myself bec@use I b1te @t sewing.**  
**AC::33 < That's wonderful actually!! There is a girl who is purrfect at sewing!! She's mended a few of my things and I'm sure she would love to help you with your outfits!!**  
**AC: :33 < Oh you two could be such furriends. It would be pawsitively purrfect!!**  
**IS: +: > Would 1 be @ble to wr1te her down @s a potent1@l roomm@te?**  
**AC: :33 < Oooooooooooh!!!! I'll ask!! :33 :33 :33 Oh, that would be pawistively purrfect!!**  
**AC: :33 < If not, she'd still be in the vicinity. Girls get their own dorm and guys get there own dorms. We could clawssibly just chill out in the dorm commons.**  
**AC: :33 < That would be so wonderful!!!**  
**IS: +: > *1S y@wns* 1 need to go to sleep. 1 d1dn't real1ze th@t 1t's go1ng on 5. 1've person@lly been @w@ke four two d@ys str@1ght.**  
**IS: +: > 1 hope you don't m1nd spe@k1ng with @mr@th. 1 know he 1sn't person@ble somet1mes.**  
**AC: :33 < I don't mind. *AC bares her teeth at you menacingly* Go sleep.**

**IncandescentStarlight [IS] has changed their handle to  galeforceCatastrophe [GC] at 5:23 AM**

**GC: Thank yov for making her go to sleep. She hasn't slept for a fevv days. She alvvays does this. She feels like its her job to take care of vs. VVhich isn't trve. Gemma and I are perfectly fine to take care of ovrselvves.**  
**GC: She doesn't listen to anything I say either. I try to force her into the background and she refvses.**  
**AC: :33 < *I purr and rub up against you, listening to you rant* How are you, Amrath?**  
**AC: :33 < Don't worry. I like talking with you.**  
**AC: :33 < You remind of one of my friends here. His name is Danny. He speaks with an odd quirk too. :33 I don't know if he considers me a friend though. I don't know if he considers anybody his friend actually. He trys to stay by himself most of the time. I have seen him with Hannah and Rose though. So that's good.**  
**AC: :33 < Hannah is the girl I was telling Faette about. She's the one who does her own sewing.**  
**GC: I am good, my feline friend. Thank yov for asking.**  
**GC: Covld yov ask abovt rooms thovgh. That is, if yovr friends don't mind.**  
**AC: :33 < Of course I'll ask. :33**  
**GC: Thank you. I really appreciate it.**  
**GC: Also, can you tell AD I say hello?**  
**GC: He has me blocked on Pesterchvm**  
**GC: Um... CA. Sorry. caligvlasAqvarivm**  
**GC: I can't remember his name right novv.**  
**GC: If yov covld do that for me, I greatly appreciate it.**  
**AC: :33 < *AC doesn't really know who AD is but AC will do her best!!***  
**AC: :33 < I have CA on my Pespurr list. I'll pester him fur you now. :33**

You minimize the chat you are having with galeforceCatastrophe and being pestering caligulasAquarium.

**arsenicCatnip [AC] started trolling  caligulasAquarium [CA] at 5:35 AM**

**AC: :33 < *AC pounces on CA* Hi!!!**  
**AC: :33 < …**  
**AC: :33 < … **  
**AC: :33 < … **  
**AC: :33 < *AC settles on CA fur a cat-nap***

**arsenicCatnip [AC] ceased trolling  caligulasAquarium [CA] at 5:45 AM**

You sit for about two minutes between each message and bring up your chat with GC again.

**AC: :33 < CA is still sleeping I think. I pounced on him and he didn't move so I curled up on top of him.**  
**GC: VVell thank yov anyvvay.**  
**AC: :33 < *AC purrs and curls up in GC's lap***  
**AC: :33 < No worries. I'll talk to him when he wakes up. :33**  
**AC: :33 < When was the last time *you* slept?**  
**GC: Personally or generally? As a vvhole vve vvoke up at 4:30 and couldn't get back to sleep.**  
**GC: Avva vvas the one vvho vvoke vp.**  
**GC: I blame Faette for ovr not being able to go back to sleep.**  
**GC: Avva vvas tired and groggy still so Faette made her go back to bed.**  
**GC: Personally, I vvoke vp arovnd 3 and havvnt been able to get back to sleep.**  
**GC: Althovgh I havve noticed an increase in yavvning.**  
**AC: :33 < *AC takes GC's hand in her paws and purceeds to nibble with a smattering of fangs***  
**AC: :33 < *AC licks GC's hand in places she broke skin***  
**AC: :33 < *AC looks up at GC licks her lips***  
**AC: :33 < *Sleep Amrath AC demands of her friend.***  
**AC: :33 < For your own well-being.**

**arsenicCatnip [AC] ceased trolling  galeforceCatastrophe [GC] at 5:55 AM**

* * *

=====> Be somebody different for a change. Be that other person over there who nobody has really ever heard of. You. Yes, you. The mopey, floppy, confused one.

Your name is... What is your name?

Prissy Fishbreath

**Incredibly loud buzzer sound**

WRONG!

You feel irritated and mad at the world now. You are not prissy. That couldn't be any further from the truth. You're just finicky. And picky. And get annoyed easily. That's not prissy. But whatever. That's not the point. That's not your name.

Your name is Amrath. Amrath Reezzi.

Right now you're flopped backwards on your bed, auburn hair splayed out behind out behind you. You're glad the hair isn't long but it feels so weird. Personally, you are used to short hair. You wish you could cut this but you know Ava and Faette would each throw fits.

You roll over onto your side. The form's hair is the least of your problems. You sigh deeply. Why are you still hung up on that damn troll? It's not like he'd give you the light of day. You huff. You were friends on Alternia but that was it. That was all. Why the hell do you have to remember that stuff? Damn small details.

You even remembered his Trollian handle. It was a stupid thought to search Persterchum for it. Of course you found it. Stupid troll is still a fucking history buff. That wasn't going to change. He probably also had a liking to Harry Potter. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

You wish you weren't cursed with such a good memory. You knew he looked somewhat familiar when you saw him in school five years back. You were going to say something to him but he moved away before you grew the gills to talk to him. And then you find he's in Skaia. The school that you will—hopefully—be attending in the fall.

Fuck. This was your fucking luck!

You run your hands back through your hair. You wonder if he will even remember you if he saw you in person. You are definitely not expecting it to jog any pastlife memories but maybe he will remember you from school.

Well, not personally, but maybe he'll remember Gemma. You hope so. Then maybe finding him on Pesterchum won't seem so obscure. You can tell him that you remember he was really into history and things to do with water.

You roll your eyes. Yes, that's not strange or weird. Who would even think to look under that? And then how many names would you have had to look under?

_@mr@th, @ll you would h@ve to do 1s se@rch four h1m by n@me._

_Thank yvu, Faette. That vvould be more sensical._

You feel special but at the same you also feel relieved. You decide that AC is right and that you do need to crawl into bed now.

_Or that Chester gave *t to you. You are fr*ends w*th h*s brother on Pesterchum._

_Oh, that is trve. Thank yov Avva._

* * *

=====> Be Danny. Dinging noises are coming from your computer. You should probably check that but who am I to tell you what to do.

You sigh and roll over. You were not in the talking mood. You didn't want to see your brother or your father. You didn't want to see Alex. What you wanted to do was stay in here and sleep the day away but you know Carter, Theresa, Vicki, Ariel, and Kharl won't let that happen.

God this is ridiculous. You hate these days the most. You're so glad you got your request form in early. You know forms requesting who you do want to dorm with are accepted. You're not so sure about the forms requesting who not to room with. You hate the idea of getting mixed up with Alex. Or your brother.

Why did he enroll here for college classes? Was it just to get on your nerves? You hope you don't have any classes with him. That would be the worst. It would be even worse to have classes with Alex.

You sigh. This is mental. You hate it here and you wanted out. You felt better after your conversation with Ariel. You didn't want to die anymore. Not as much at least, but you still really wanted out of Skaia still. This place just struck a bad cord in your core. You can't place why, but the senior staff rubs you the wrong way.

You sigh and roll out of bed. Kharl is already gone, off who knows where. Probably out in one of the common rooms. You check your pesterchum to see who sent what.

**arsenicCatnip [AC] started trolling  caligulasAquarium [CA] at 5:35 AM**

**AC: :33 < *AC pounces on CA* Hi!!!**  
**AC: :33 < …**  
**AC: :33 < … **  
**AC: :33 < … **  
**AC: :33 < *AC settles on CA fur a cat-nap***

**arsenicCatnip [AC] ceased trolling  caligulasAquarium [CA] at 5:45 AM**

**caligulasAquarium [CA] started trolling  arsenicCatnip [AC] at 6:05 AM**

**CA: *CA stretches and pets AC on the head***  
**AC: :33 < *AC purrs in respurrnce***  
**AC: :33 < *AC looks up at CA and blinks purriously***  
**CA: Yes, AC?**  
**AC: :33 < *AC wants to know if the chum handle ~galeforceCatastrophe~ sounds familiar to CA***  
**CA: Seriously? He's trying to get into contact wwith me again?**  
**AC: :33 < *AC tilts her head to the side curiously***  
**AC: :33 < Is there an issue?**  
**CA: *CA sighs, trying to think of a good way to answer AC's question***  
**CA: *CA shrugs his shoulders***  
**CA: Not really an *issue*. He's just a little odd.**  
**CA: Please be careful when talking with him Nikki.**  
**AC: :33 < *AC rubs against CA's chest, purring loudly***  
**AC: :33 < I purromise I'll be careful. *AC licks CA on the cheek***  
**CA: Are you ready fur today?**  
**AC: :33 < Of course!! I get to sea my seaster.**  
**AC: :33 < *Sea* what I did there?**  
**CA: You're punny. =3**  
**CA: Is that because of my cat pun?**  
**AC: :33 < Yep!! :33 *I lick you on the cheek***  
**AC: :33 < You're not looking forward to seeing your brother, are you?**  
**CA: *I grumble* No. Not at all.**  
**AC: :33 < We still have a few hours. :33 May I come curl up with you?**  
**CA: *I smile and nod* Sure. =3**

**arsenicCatnip [AC] ceased trolling  caligulasAquarium [CA] at 6:20 AM**

* * *

=====> Bee Toby.

It's 6:43 and you are currently laying in bed wide awake, listening to the peaceful sounds of Alex's light snores. You haven't heard him sleep this peaceful in a while. He didn't even sleep this peaceful when Amber was still living in the building. You wonder what happened to make this change happen but you don't question. He's peaceful, doesn't look like he's having any nightmares. You're thankful. And you're quite fine laying there in peace until “Gog damn it. He probably hasn't! Fuck!”

Alex snorts, stirs, and rolls over. “What kind of moirail am I if I can't keep him in line?” You hear Carter angrily rush past your door and wonder what the heck has him so riled up. “GOD FUCKING DAMN IT!!!”

Alex awakes with a loud snore. “God fucking damn it, Carter!! I wath fucking thleeping! Can't a guy fucking thleep in peathe anymore!!!” He grabbed his pillow and chucked it at the door.

So much for a peaceful morning.

You shrug and bounce to your feet. “Come on, Thol, we should get drethed for the day.” You zoom to your dresser and pull out a pair of skinny jeans and your black and yellow stripped shirt. It's one of your favorites. Not only do the black and yellow stripes remind you of the bees that you love so much but also, Hufflepuff pride! You zoom around the room and gather a few other things like a pair of mis-matched socks. “I can't wait to thee my Tulip.” You smile widely and zoom into the bathroom. “Shower time!!”

* * *

=====> Bee Sollux

You roll your eyes at your brother and flop back on the bed. Stupid Carter. Stupid being up before your freaking alarm. You like to savor those minuscule hours of weekly sleep. Even a few minutes makes a difference in your mood. Oh well. It's probably for the better. Toby takes longer to get ready anyway. Granted, that time is usually used on his hair. Showering, blow-drying, styling. He is such a girl. It doesn't take _you_ that long to do your hair. Then again, you don't have girl outside Skaia to impress. Come to think of it, you don't have a girl _inside_ Skaia to impress either.

_Hello depre22iive thought2. IIt2 not even breakfa2t yet. Fuck you two._

You groan and get up. You may as well start pulling clothes out as well. You smell yourself and shrug. Maybe you could do with a shower. Oh well. You don't really see a point in it right now. As your brain has so kindly reminded you, you don't have anybody to impress anymore. Besides, maybe people would get the hint and kindly leave you alone.

Your mind drifts to Madeline. Like hell she'd leave you alone.

* * *

=====> Be Danny.

You fly awake when you hear a person stomping past your door and down the hall. “GOD FUCKING DAMN IT!!!” Fuckin' Carter. He was never quiet about anything. You wondered if he ever could be.

You lay back down and curl back up with Nichole. “Morning,” she says sleepily. You smile when she slings an arm around you and nuzzles into your chest. You think you can also hear her purring.

You wrap your arms around her and hold her close. “Morning, Nikki.” She was nice to wake up to. You liked those mornings when you woke up with Kharl as well. They both had this air about that made you feel safe and secure. You don't know what it is about them but thy both calm you down when you have mood swings. They don't make you hate yourself any less, but they do numb the pain quite a bit. It was kind of like when you were curled up with Ariel in the library yesterday.

“How are you?” she asks. “Ready fur the day?”

You think about that momentarily and shake your head. No, you're not ready. You're not ready to see your dad, you're not ready to see your brother. You're not ready to interact with Mina unless you absolutely _have to_. She's horrid and rubbish and makes you want to rip your horns off.

You stop your thoughts.

Horns? You don't have horns. Never in all of your life have you ever had horns. That doesn't make sense. Sure, a lot of the things that you have encountered, even some things that you have done in the past don't make sense, but you know for sure that you've never had horns. What the hell? That was a really random thought.

You sit up unwrap your arms from Nichole and sit up. You would have preferred laying there because she was nice to lay with. She reminded you of a little sister and you like that. But with bizarre thoughts such as horns going through your head, you decided that you needed coffee. A lot of it. Especially if you were going to deal with Alex, Vivian, Mina, Chester, and your father all in the same place at the same time with everybody else.

Oh, that thought made your head ache.

Coffee. Lots of coffee. Stat. All the caffeine.

You quickly wonder if you could snag a Monster from Toby. You could pay him back. Your family is loaded after all. Then you remember all those unanswered texts from Jacob. Maybe you could ask him for one instead. And update him on how you're doing and what you're doing and that you're not looking forward to today. It would be something and he deserves _something_ at least.

“Do you need caffeine?” Nichole asks you, sitting up with her legs crossed.

You nod, still rubbing your temples. You didn't even realize that you had been. Maybe that's why she asked. “Do you havve any?”

She nods. “Yup. I have a few Monsturrs in the mini-fridge Mina and I share. I'll grab one fur you,” she says with a smile. “We need to get purready anyway.”

You sigh. You are _really_ not looking forward to this.

She leans up and gives you a kiss on the cheek. “It'll be all right,” she tells you with a smile. “Just keep swimming.”

You smile at her. “Just keep swwimming,” you repeat. “Wwould you mind wwatching it wwith me later?” you ask her. Finding Nemo is one of your favorite animated movies and right now you could sit down with a bowl of popcorn and watch it to take your mind off of things. You know you can't do that right now, but it would make for a perfect pick-me-up.

“Totally,” she tells you with a smile. She slides off the bed and and gives you a smile before she leaves the room.

You lay back with a sigh before rolling off the bed yourself. Time to get dressed. You grab your phone off the dresser and send Jacob a quick text first.

Hey Kobe. I knoww I havvent checked in lately and Im sorry. I knoww you wworry. I just dont wwant my brother knowwing my condition or my lack of condition. Im doing okay. I don't knoww if Ariel told you but I had a minor breakdown yesterday. Im good noww though. No wworries.

* * *

=====> Be Chester

Currently you are feeling sick to your stomach. You know you are going to be rejected when he sees you. You could handle rejection from other people but you couldn't really handle rejection from your own little brother. It happened every time lately. You wanted to let him know that you cared. You were mortified when you came home to see him in a puddle of his own blood. You called 9-1-1, the emergency squad, and vomited through your tears five times before anybody arrived at your house.

That was within a matter of 15-17 minutes. You called your father after the first time you vomited. You vomited the second time while you were on the phone with him. The third time was when he told you he was leaving work early and then he hung up while you were vomiting. The fourth time was when you looked back over at Daniel right before the squad arrived. The fifth was when they were carrying him out in a stretcher.

Of course, losing that much blood, he needed a transfusion. You didn't tell him but the blood that was given to him was yours. Nobody knew this except for Jacob.

He was probably the only friend that you had kept in contact with over all the years from all your moves. You occasionally talked to orchestratedParadox on Pesterchum but you haven't spoken to her in quite awhile though. You quickly wonder what she's up to but quickly push that thought away.

It's 7:01 AM and you need breakfast. Do you feel like breakfast? No. You don't feel like food nor do you feel like eating it. Instead you pull your phone out of your pocket and quickly type up a text message.

 

**Kobe**  
  
**hey Kobe. please tell me that you're going to be there today. i need support. little monster is going to reject me again and I can't keep up this front around him that I'm okay wvhen I'm not.**  
  
** I'm not really sure hovw long I can keep up this front. vwhat did I do to deserwve this?**  
  
** I mean, I knowv I teased him about not getting a girl but that was cowver up all of my insecurities about none of the girls I knewv ewver sticking around. besides, evwen if does turn out to be gay or bi or pan or vwhatevwer the hell he is, I'm going to support him 100%. and Ill hurt anybody vwho hurts my little bro. Hes my little monster and Im gonna stick by little monster until the closing credits.**  
  
** Shhh.... *I 6egin sh99shing y9u* Y9ure fine. Everything is fine. Y9u are fine. There's a6s9lutley n9thing wr9ng with y9u. He'll c9me ar9und. Im sure 9f it.**  
  
** Are you sure? I don't vwant to push him avway.**  
  
** 6reathe. Have y6u eaten anything this m6rning?**  
  
** I don't vwant food.**  
  
** I will c9me 9ver. And I w9nt c9me al9ne. I'll bring Penny.**  
  
** She will f9rce y9u t9 eat.**  
  
** Shell force me to eat and shell overstuff me. Vwhy are you cruel to me, Kobe?**  
  
** L9l. Im n9t. It c9uld 6e w9rse. We care. Y9u kn9w that. Even Mina in her 9wn weird way cares.**  
  
** Oh fuck me. Mina. I completely forgot about her. Shit.**  
  
** Language Chess. And d9nt w9rry. I g9t y9ur 6ack.**  
  
** :)**  
  
** :)**  
  
** Thanks Kanny.**

You hit send before you realize that you misspelled his name. Kanny? Where did that even come from? You don't know anybody that you've given that nickname to.

 

**Kobe  
  
***Kobe.****

That's better.

You sigh and get off your bedroom floor. You're a cool cat, you're not bad news, you're a blast. Now if only you could believe that, you'd be on the right track. You stand up and straighten your tee-shirt and your leather jacket. You do your best to look anti-frantic. Now if only you could feel anti-frantic, you'd be on the right track. You shrug. For now it'll have to be a bit.

 

**Kobe**  
  
** Im off my bedroom floor. Im going dovwnstairs. Anything you recommend chief?**

You descend the stairs to the kitchen and glance at your phone.

 

**Kobe**  
  
** N9 caffiene. Y9ure already anxi9us. That will make y9ur anxiety sh99t sky high. Y9u d9nt need that. Fruit. And 9ats. D9 y9u have 9atmeal?**

You rummage through your pantry and find some stove top oatmeal. Yeah, you could make this work.

 

**Kobe**  
  
** And Sprite 9r ginger ale. Y9u kn9w, s9mething calming f9r st9mach.**

You grin at the advice. You know you have some of that, especially for occasions like these. You had picked them out special for Danny but he never drank them.

 

**Kobe**  
  
** So, I havwe an apple, oatmeal, and vwe have ginger ale in those small bottles. Im bringing a second one with me for today. Do you vwant me to bring one for you too?  
Thanks Chess. :) I really appreciate the gesture.**

That said and done, you ate.

* * *

=====> Be Carter

You sit and stare off into the court yard as Gavin eats his breakfast. You made sure Gamzee was the one to take the meds before he laid down to get some much needed sleep to let his migraine pass.

There were already a few family members out there. Madeline was here and Theresa was outside with her. Toby and Alex were outside with her as well. You watched Toby crash for the tenth time in about as many minutes.

Chester and Kobe weren't here yet, so you knew Danny wasn't going to be outside yet. He'd probably only go outside if Vivian were outside as well. Right now, you knew she was in the kitchen finishing up with the breakfast dishes.

You glance over at Gavin. He is finishing his last few bites of waffles. You didn't eat breakfast. You don't have much of an appetite. That'll change by lunch, you're sure. Hopefully. If not, then oh well. You've gone a few days without food. Sure, it's not healthy, but you didn't see the point of forcing it down only to have it come back up. Besides, what's the point? You don't think you deserve to be alive anyway. You know that you're a failed leader who didn't win the game. You are the reason you didn't win the game so why bother?

You're pulled from your thoughts by a voice that's somewhere behind you. “Hey cool cats. Vwhere's my radioactive subterranean little monster?”

You shrug, turning around to look at Chester. Kobe was there with him. This was going to be a very interesting day. “I have no idea where your self-proclaimed hipster sibling is. Not sure where a lot of people are actually. Viv is doing dishes. I haven't seen Nikki or Hannah yet today. Vicki is... probably in the library with Ariel. Rufus is outside with Toby and Madeline and Alex.”

You watch a sly grin cross his face. “All right.” You watch him stride across the cafeteria to the door leading outside. You watch him open the door and the first words to leave his mouth make you cringe. “Hey bumblebee, nice threads.” You watched Toby stand up from his new crash site and march up to him, fists clenched

You shake your head and turn your attention back to your brother. “Oh dear gog, he needs a leash.” You look back outside and watch as Madeline is stepping between Chester and Toby. “Please keep him under control. And please make sure no blood is shed until I get outside.” You almost laugh at the panicked look that Jacob gives you, but you hold it back, only snorting. “There's not gonna be blood. Don't be such a worry wart.” Now you laugh. “Take your own advice and chill.”

After a few more minutes, Gavin tells you that he's going to wait out front with Rufus and keep him company. You nod and follow Jacob outside to the courtyard just out the back door.

“Karkles!” Terezi shouts and jumps on your back, practically pulling you down backwards.

“Fucking!” you shout at the unexpected attack. You feel her wrap her legs around your torso. “Terezi!” you shout, feeling very unbalanced and like you're going to fall. “You're like half a foot taller than me! Get off!!” You feel yourself going down and she jumps off with a cackle. She catches you and picks you up off your feet. “Theresa!!” you shout, even more panicked. “Put me down!” Your voice cracks on the double ewe and she giggles. “I'm serious!” You freak out more when she shifts your around until she's holding you bridal style.

“Awww,” Toby laughs. “Aren't you the cutetht little thing, CR? Tho adorable.” He laughs and scratches your head.

“Fucking, Captor!” you shout insolently. You try to nip at his fingers and he just laughs. “I have teeth you know.” You bare your teeth at him in a snarl.

“You're tho adorable. Yeth you are, yeth you are,” he says to you in a sing-song tone, still scratching your scalp.

Fucker! You quickly began thinking of all the ways that you could get him back later.

He stops after another few seconds or so and wanders away again.

“Aww.” You knew that voice. Fucking Madeline. “What do you have there, Therese? Is it Carter?” She laughs at you too.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Laugh it up. I'm fucking adorabloodthirsty.” You bare your teeth widely at Theresa, not sure if she can actually see them or not. “Satisfied?” you ask her.

She laughs and puts you down. “Quite.”

You glance over at Alex. “I'm not adorable or cute. The proper term is now adorabloodthirsty. Get it right, Captor.”

He sticks his tongue out at you and flips you off.

You laugh to yourself. Maybe this wasn't going to be so bad after all. Things were already going okay. Gavin was sitting off to the side, watching everything. It struck you as odd because he is so unlike Gamzee and it was just strange to you.

“Oh no,” a voice from behind you says. “Not you.” You don't need to look over your shoulder to recognize Danny's voice.

Chester moves like he's going to take a step forward but stops himself, falling back into his previous stance. “Dan-iel.” You hear him stutter and quickly catch himself. You think that maybe he was going to say “Danny” instead but stopped himself.

“Aaron,” Danny corrects him. “You and father will refer to me as Aaron.”

You inwardly cringe. You know that's never a good sign. Danny hates to be called Aaron, so if he's openly telling Chester to call him a name he hates, he must not be keen on being around his brother at all. You already knew that they aren't on good terms, but you didn't really know just how bad things actually are. And from the look of hurt that quickly passed over Chester's face, neither did he.

The look of hurt was quickly gone though. “Fair enough, Aaron,” he says thickly. “How are things going for you here?”

* * *

=====> Be Alex

You sit back in amusement and watch as a fight almost breaks out between Lati, Toby, and Chester. Over a shirt, mind you. Chess made a comment about Toby's shirt, he took offense to it, Madeline automatically jumped to his defense. You shake your head, wondering when Chester will get it through his head that Madeline and Toby are quite happy going steady.

You chortle to yourself when Jacob follows him outside and steers him to a table to sit down, quickly apologizing to Toby and Lati. You walk over and sit down next to the two, watching Toby, Madeline, and Theresa pass the skateboard around. You're curious as to how Theresa can skateboard when she's blind but you wonder that of a lot of the things she does. You know you should stop questioning it but you won't.

You watch in amusement as Theresa jumps on an unsuspecting Carter's back. You fight back a laugh as they both almost topple over. She wraps her legs around his torso, but you know that he's still top heavy. She's about six inches taller than he is. Even curled around him like she's trying to do, they'd both still fall over. You watch and snort as she jumps off his back, pulling him down into her. You giggle silently to yourself when she picks him up.

“Theresa!!” he shouts, flailing about. “Put me down!” His voice cracks and just about fall out of your chair because you can't breath. “I'm serious!” You watch Theresa shift him around until she's holding him bridal style.

You do your best to regain your composure and not fall out of your seat. You catch your breath and walk over to the pair. “Aww,” you laugh. “Aren't you the cutetht little thing, CR? Tho adorable,” you tease him. You laugh and scratch his scalp, knowing it was a weak spot of his.

“Fucking Captor,” he snarls at you. You laugh at him when he nips at your fingers. He doesn't scare you. He reminds you of a feral kitten. “I have teeth you know!” he snarls, teeth bared.

“You're tho adorable. Yeth you are, yeth you are,” you sing-song, still scratching his scalp. You find this so amusing and you can't help it. You had some caffeine and with any luck you're hitting a manic high. You are so tired of lows right now. They keep coming at this rate and—No. Don't think about that. Don't you dare think about that. What about Aradia? You sigh internally. Amber. Think of Amber. What would she do if she got word that you had...you know?

You don't dwell on that. You know that she still has an attachment to the spirits. She'd probably find your soul and ream your candy ass out that way.

“I'm not adorable or cute. The proper term is now adorabloodthirsty. Get it right, Captor.”

You tune back in and find yourself sitting back at the table. Fuck. Your body moved without proper consent again. This was wonderful... You push that out of your head and focus on Carter. You stick your tongue out at him and flip him off.

Today was going to be a long day.

You rest your head on your arms until you hear a stupid voice by the doors of the cafeteria. “Oh no. Not you.” You open your eyes. Yep, long day.

You watch Chester rise from his chair and almost take a step forward before re-thinking that move of action and settling back into his chair. “Dan-iel,” you hear him stutter. It looked like he wanted to say something more but thought better of it.

“Aaron.” You don't miss the harsh tone in Daniel's voice. “You and father will refer to me as Aaron.”

And from the look on Chester's face, neither did he. It's gonna be one of these kinds of days, huh? Fun fun. At least it isn't just going to be a long day for you. You hold a morbid appreciation for that fact. It feels kind of nice to know you aren't going to be the only one suffering. You had seen the quick pained look cross Chester's face and it was gone just as quickly as it had come. “Fair enough, Aaron.” He swallows thickly and you could see how much it pains him to know that he isn't anything near close with his little brother as he may have been at one point anymore. “How are things going for you here?”

You turned your attention to Daniel to watch his reaction and to your surprise his eyes were on you. He quickly glanced away when he caught you looking at him though. “Okay,” he muttered out. “It's... okay. I guess.” He grabs his arm nervously, his eyes flitting around, catching your eye again, and then he looks away just as quickly. “Some things are going better than others.” He glances away completely. “I'm fitting in here just as well as I did elsewhere.” He rolls his eyes, quickly glances at you, and walks back inside, the door closing behind him.

What the fuck is his problem?

You quickly glance over at Carter to see if he had any opinion on what just happened and you're surprised to see that he's subtly glaring at you.

You give him a confused look. What the hell did you do?

* * *

=====> Be Meenah

You are currently working in the kitchen, making lunch for the families who are here and who are going to show up.

You are also one of the patients of the Skaia Mental Facility, but unlike most of the others, you put yourself here whalingly. You felt at danger at home with your mom, Connie. You felt safer here with your Aunt Betty even though you know it's your mom who runs the place. You know there are a few facilitators above her as well and you are here to watch over the rest of the patients, the oblivious staff, and your naive sister.

You are flipping a few burgers because why not a barbecue style lunch today when a friend of Viv's comes in sniffling. He's in tears and you wonder why.

“Hey, buoy!” you call out to him. You turn away from the grill momentarily to ask your cousin a favor. “Hey Jade, cover for me for a moment, would you? Danny just walked in. I think there's a problem I need to take care of fast.”

“Okay!! Tell him I say hi.” She smiles and skips over to the grill. She waves at the hipster kid who just walked in. “Hi Danny!!” She smiled widely and you grin too when you him smile back sadly. It was better than nothing for now.

You remove your apron on the way out of the kitchen and hang it on the door. “What's up, buoy?” you ask him, sitting across the table from him. “Which beach do I need to pummel into the sand?”

He sighs and lays his head on his arms. “It's nothin',” he sighs. His head is facing the door that leads further into the facility.

You lean back and cross your arms over your chest. You feel sticky and sweaty. God, it's not even noon and you already want a cool shower. Maybe you'll jump into the pool later. You push those thoughts away and focus on Danny. “Uh-huh,” you say, completely disbelieving. “Good to know that tears equal no fin now.”

You watch him with amusement as he flies up and quickly wipes his eyes. “Fuckin',” he mutters. He locks eyes with you. “I'm not cryin',” he says convincingly. You may have believed him if it weren't for the actual tears.

You grin at his startled reaction. “Wwhatevver you say, scotts-boy,” you tease with a grin. He glares at you and you laugh. “What?” you ask him with a shrug. “Don't like to be teased?” you joke.

He groans and shakes his head. Then he sighs and gives you a small smile. “Scottish and proud,” he tells you but you think he's currently trying to convince himself. The smile slips away. “I'm serious. It's nothin'.” He pauses and wipes his eyes again. “And you have no room to speak, ya fish,” he retorts with a snarky grin.

You laugh. “Fish and proud of it,” you say with a grin. You lived in Barbados until you were eleven. Vivian was five when she, you, and your mom moved to the United States to live with your Aunt Betty and your cousin Jane. Neither of them are blood related to you. Neither are Jade and John, but Betty is your mom's adopted sister, so you still consider them your family. “You know, I'm still not believing it's no fin, Dannyfish.”

He started again with the “It's nothing” but thought better of it, changing his tune. “Okay, it's not nothing.” He stops and rolls his eyes. “I'm feelin' like this is just like every other place I've been too, ya know?”

You uncross your arms and lean forward, resting your elbows on the table. He's been here for two months so far and you haven't gotten him to open up about anything since he's been here. “No, I don't know. I mean, Ariel texted me a little bit last night after she closed up the library, but she didn't disclose details.” It was true. She had told you that it was something that she felt Eridan needed to open up about himself.

He looked away and shook his head. “Naething, nane ava',” he says bitterly and you think he's called you something but then you remember he probably just started speaking in Scottish. “Fuckin' nothin'.” He angrily pounded his fist on the table. “It's nothin' damn it!” He pushed himself away from the table and stormed back into the facility. You are pretty sure you saw tears in his eyes before he stormed away from the table.

“God damn it!” you mutter, watching his retreating back. You hastily walk over to the counter and tell Jade to contact Vivian. “Danny just stormed off after getting angry for seamingly no reason. I'm gonna get the scoop and send a beach into the sand.” You march over to the door and fling it open. “What the fuck just happened?” you ask, looking around the boys. “Daniel came inside in tears and proceeded to not talk to me. He got angry, spoke in Scottish, punched the table, and stormed off. Any idea why?” You held eyes with Chester, who went pale.

“Fuck. He only slips into Scottish when he's extremely emotional and doesn't want to show it.” He practically fell out of his chair and raced to the door.

“Hold it, slick,” you tell him, grabbing him by the collar. “He went inside in tears. After being around you guys. Tell me what happened first.” You let go of his jacket and glanced around at the others.

Carter looked shaken. “Tell me that somebody went after him.” His eyes were wide and you know that he was fearing the same thing as you and Chester.

“Jade called Vivian. She's patrolling inside right now. Viv probably saw him flee inside. If she did, she's talking him down now.” You watched both Chester and Carter visibly relax.

Jacob walked up behind Chester and started massaging his neck. “Relax. You're not going to do anybody any good if you lock up and can't move.” He sighed and steered Chester back to his chair.

You cast your attention to Toby, Theresa, Madeline, and Alex. “What about you four? Did you see what happened?”

The girls cast their attention to Alex and Toby chimed in. “He wath looking at you quite a lot, Alekth.”

“Yeah, and you haven't had any good interactions with him since he's been here,” Theresa pointed out. She cackled as if she had just said something funny.

You didn't really get the joke. You know that she remembers her past life just as you, but you don't know anything about run other than who else played it with her. You don't know if Alex does and you really aren't sure about Danny. Maybe that's why he had reacted the way he did.

You cast your gaze to Alex who looks abnormally pale. Quickly, he meets your gaze. “Did you thay Vivian?” he asks, eyes slightly wide. He glances around quickly, eye-balls rolling around as he quickly glances around, putting points together. Yep, he remembers. “He'th alone with Vivian?” he questions, catching your gaze, his brain still going a million miles an hour. “Ekthcuthe me while I go break them up.” He leaps from his chair and gets jumped.

Not only does Theresa jump on his back, practically knocking him over, but Toby grabs him by the shoulders. Madeline practically jumps in front of him so she has to catch him when her little sister jumps on his back.

“Stay right there, buoy,” you order. You stalk over to him. “Is what they said true, Sandy?” You run the tips of your fingers through his blond hair, accentuating the reason for the nickname.

He spits at you. “Fuck off, Fith Bitch.” Oh yeah, he remembers his run all right. You just don't know what he remembers compared to what you remember. “I'm not telling you thit.”

You're not sure what to do, because personally, yes you were a bitch. Yes you culled millions of undeserving trolls. But you wanted to make for that. You wanted to help this time. You didn't want any more death.

A loud voice cuts through your thoughts. “God damn it, Alex. I am not dealing with your bipolar shit right now!”

* * *

=====> Be Carter

You are done with Alex and his bullshit. He needs to pull his head out of his ass and understand that this life isn't that life and that Danny has a different consciousness from Eridan. Yes, they are the same person, they have the same likes, the same quirk, and talk the same, but they aren't the same in behavior. Danny just wants friends. He wants to fit in. If he doesn't, he may resort to something drastic that he's already tried and failed and Chester doesn't need to go through that again. Neither do their father.

“God damn it, Alex,” you growl, walking over to the group of five. “I am not dealing with your bipolar shit right now!” You wave your arms around, telling everyone to scat. You replace Toby's hand with yours and then he moves. You stare into Alex's eyes and he stares right back. They look glazed and far away. “Danny. Isn't. Eridan,” you growl quietly. “He doesn't consciously remember all the past life bullshit. Set aside your pettyty hatred and see Danny as a _person_ , not the one who killed Feferi and almost killed you.” You looked deeply into Alex's eyes and you realize his eyes don't look glazed, they look glassy. Shit. “You dissociated. Of course you did. You have no idea what I'm talking about.” You bring a finger up to his forehead and petted him, shooshing him.

He leans into your pettings and his eyes fall closed for a brief moment before they snap open again and he is yelling at you. “What the fuck, CV?” He pushes you away forcefully. “Why are you petting me?”

And he's back. Good. You don't say anything. Instead you punch him in the jaw. “ That's for being an ass and not letting petty things go.” Okay, sure, yes, he has a valid reason for not wanting Eridan around feferi, but it isn't a good nor is it a valid reason for not wanting Danny around Vivian. “That was in the past! He's no longer trying to kill everybody!” You swing at him again but this time he's expecting it. He ducks low and moves out of the way of your fist. “He's actually trying to kill _himself_ this time.” You gasp fakely. “Imagine that.” You reach for his arms and he doesn't pull away this time. “Put your petty hatred aside, Alex. You're acting like Tony Stark.” He gives you a sideways glare and you have to admit, the comparison works. Hacker genius, tech whiz, coding prodigy. And he doesn't play well with others either. “You don't even play well with others,” you add.

Theresa laughs. “If he's Tony, the who's Loki?” she asks with a snort.

“I can tell you that,” Madeline chimes in.

You chuckle mentally. You already know who you'd peg as Loki. Which makes you extremely amused because you ship Frostiron. If truth be told, you could also ship Alex with his Loki. He'd punch you for it, sure, but it would be worth it. He'd also tell you that are off your rocker and have maybe been spending _way_ too much time with Nichole. Might be true, but she's your blood sister, so... You can't exactly help that.

“I am nothing like Tony Thtark,” Alex says indignantly and you can tell from that grin on Madeline's face that she's thinking the same thing you are.

Eridan is Loki just as much as Sollux is Tony. Making either Feferi or Aradia Pepper and the other one Lady Sif. You don't have much time to muse about the overall comparison because Dave just walked outside.

“Sure you are,” he states. “Hacker, coder, tech genius. You don't play well with others. You feel like you always have to be right. When somebody undermines you, you get all hells a pissy.”

You do your best to hold in your laughter. It was all completely true. You know that if he had the time and the resources, Alex would build himself an AI like Friday or Jarvis. Probably Friday. You know he has a thing for accents, even though he won't openly admit it, especially when Danny has a Scottish accent.

“Thank you _tho much_ for your thoughtful input, Dave,” Alex snaps at him sarcastically.

“Anytime,” Dave replies with a smile. He turns to you and he's no longer smiling. “Vivian has Danny, but I think you might want to go check on him yourself. I don't think he's doing too well.” You get up from the chair and head inside.

That didn't sound good at all. You just hope he hasn't done anything yet.

* * *

=====> Be Alex

You're joking around with Toby, Theresa, and Madeline when Mina Peixes. She seemed pretty pissed off about something.

“Daniel came inside in tears and proceeded to not talk to me. He got angry, spoke in Scottish, punched the table, and stormed off. Any idea why?”

Oh. That's why she was angry.

“Fuck. He only slips into Scottish when he's extremely emotional and doesn't want to show it.” Chester ran to the door but was stopped by a hand gripping the collar of his leather jacket.

“Hold it, slick. He went inside in tears. After being around you guys. Tell me what happened first.”

Carter took a step forward, looking scared and shaken. “Tell me that somebody went after him.”

“Jade called Vivian. She's patrolling inside right now. Viv probably saw him flee inside. If she did, she's talking him down now.”

You freeze hearing those words. You feel all the blood leaving your face. Suddenly you lose feeling in your fingertips.

You hear screaming. You feel white-hot anger wash over you, fighting with the freezing fear that you are feeling now. Although, you don't know if your cold from fear or lack of blood. You look around, no longer in the courtyard. Instead you are against a wall and the back of your hurts like you got thrown hard against the wall. You hear the crackling energy of white science and more screaming. Although if you were being honest, you'd correct yourself and say it all sounded like shrieking instead. Coughs replace the shrieking. You hear gasping breaths and the last thing you hear is “I thought we were friends” and then you're standing back in the courtyard, shaking slightly.

“Did you thay Vivian? He'th alone with Vivian?” Your eyes go wide and the meaning of those words hit you hard. You need to do something. You need to stop it. He's going to kill her again. “Ekthcuthe me while I go break them up,” you say hastily. You stand up and try to run but before you can do anything, you're jumped. Somebody grabs your shoulder and you fall forward, into somebody.

You blink hard and when you open your eyes, you see Redglare. You fell into Redglare. You see out of the corner of your eye that the Handmaid has a hand on your shoulder. You have no idea who's on your back though and its freaking you out.

“Stay right there, buoy,” a voice orders you. You glance up and see her long horns first and then her crazy wild hair. You're face contorts into a snarl when she steps closer. “Is what they said true, Sandy?” she asks you, her hands touching your helmet, lightly grazing a horn.

You hiss and spit and her. “Fuck off, Fith Bitch,” you snarl. You know such language could get you culled but you don't care. She can ask you whatever she wants. You won't break even though you could die. The prospect of death doesn't faze you. “I'm not telling you thit.”

“God damn it, Alex!” a new voice growls. “I am not dealing with your bipolar shit right now!” You see the Signless. You watch him flail his arms and everyone moves away. You stagger forward but he catches you with a hand on your shoulder. He stares into your eyes and you stare right back. “Danny. Isn't. Eridan.” He enunciates each word slowly and perfectly in a low growl. You aren't entirely sure what he's saying. You have no idea who Eridan or Danny are. “He doesn't consciously remember all the past life bullshit.” Past life? What past life? There is only this life. “Set aside your petty hatred and see Danny as a _person_ , not the one who killed Feferi and almost you.” He looked deeply into your eyes and you saw something connect, a look of revelation crossing his face. “You dissociated. Of course you did. You have no idea what I'm talking about.” You watch as he brings a finger up to your forehead. You close your eyes, enjoying him pet you. It's relaxing and it makes you feel content. You could fall asleep to this.

Your eyes snap open and you are in the courtyard again. And Carter is petting you. _Why_ is Carter petting you? “What the fuck, CV?” You push him away. “Why are you petting me?”

You don't get a vocal response but instead a punch in the jaw. “That's for being an ass and not letting petty things go. That was in the past. He's no longer trying to kill everybody!” He swings at you again but you avoid it this time. “He's actually trying to kill _himself_ this time.” He gasps fakely. “Imagine that!” Then he reaches out for your arm. “Put your petty hatred aside. You're acting like Tony Stark. You don't even play well with others.”

Theresa laughs and you wonder what's so funny. Was there another part to this that you weren't getting? “If he's Tony, then who's Loki?”

“I can tell you that,” Madeline cuts in and, oh no, here we go. This isn't going to end well.

“I am nothing like Tony Thtark,” you say indignantly, but you can tell from that grin on Madeline's face—No, that's Latula. That's gotta be Latula. You don't know if she remembers anything but something about that look on her face has memories sparking through your head, but you'll focus on those later.

“Sure you are,” you hear a new voice state. “Hacker, coder, tech genius. You don't play well with others. You feel like you always have to be right. When somebody undermines you, you get all hells a pissy.”

You turn to glare at the blond who you hadn't heard walk outside. “Thank you _tho much_ for your thoughtful input, Dave,” you tell him sarcastically.

“Anytime,” he replies with a smile. He turns to Carter. “Vivian has Danny, but I think you might want to go check on him yourself. I don't think he's doing too well.” He glances at Chester as well. “He's okay for the most part. I think he just needs an outside source to talk to. He specifically requested that you didn't talk to him though. Sorry.” He smiles apologetically at Chester and heads back inside with Carter.

“As I was saying,” Madeline continued, somewhat slower, feeling the obvious tension in the air. “You're Tony. Vivian would be Pepper. And, as such, Danny would be Loki.”

You're brain came a schreeching halt. The fuck? Danny as Loki? Eridan as Loki made sense, what with the magic and the schemes. You and your coding and tech stuff as Tony. But your brain didn't stop there. It kept going. People shipped Loki and Tony. Frostiron. They shipped Frostiron. You were kind of fond of Frostiron yourself. The fuck??? No. No. No. You had no feelings for Danny whatsoever. Not even in a blackrom kind of way. That thought disgusted you and made you want to gag. Oh fuck. Now you felt like you were going to be sick.

“I—I'm just gonna...” You gestured to the door inside. You lurched past the group and past Mina into a table in cafeteria. Nope. This wasn't good. You settled into a chair and closed your eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, how was that? Alex does a lot more disassociating later on as well. More Carter stuff in the next chapter. More things will be revealed. Past life details are turning out to be more complicated than I first assessed because it's all turning into a giant ball of wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey stuff. But Homestuck in general is a giant ball of wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey stuff so I guess this isn't too far from the original canon.
> 
> I'm trying to build up to Sollux/Eridan at some point later on in future chapters. And after I finish this whole family visitation thing, I think I'm gonna jump into the first day of college, unless something else major happens.
> 
> I'm doing my best to stay away from character death. That isn't going to happen hopefully. I am not planning it, but then again, I wasn't planning on any OCs besides Gavin.
> 
> Mind you this isn't going to be a happy-fluffy fic either. I still have yet to introduce Jane and John.
> 
> I'm also thinking about writing a couple one-shots involving my OCs so you guys can get a better feel for them. Yay or Nay on OC fics?


	5. Time Brings More Questions But Answers Never Sea-m 2 Bee In Sight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jake and Eridan interact. Eridan just wants Jake to leave him the fuck alone and mind his own business, but Jake is daft as usual. Typical Jake/Erisolsprite interaction, I suppose. Lol. Sollux has flashbacks/memories and more dissociating. Also, Sollux, Karkat, and Eridan are such nerds. Also, I have a headcanon that Karkat has a secret shipping wall like Nepeta's.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I have the next two chapters typed. Chapter 6 is ready to be posted, chapter 7 needs some coding done, but other than that, I'm way ahead. Lol. Started on chapter 8. The next few chapters are going to be filled with family interaction before classes start. Yay!
> 
> Besides, before school starts, I have this image of everyone being away from Skaia for a bit.
> 
> I can also introduce you a few more of my OC's this way as well. Hope you guys don't mind that.

=====> Be Jake. Your phone is buzzing in your pocket. You should probably answer it.

“Hey there Harley,” you say with a smile.

“English,” she replies back and you can hear a smile in her voice. In this life, she's your cousin. You both remember the game clearly and you sometimes wonder if she remembers being your grandma or if she's a Jade from a doomed timeline. You honestly wonder that of all the Alpha kids. “Have you seen Danny?” she asks you, breaking you out of your thoughts.

“No,” you answer. “Should I be on the look out or do you want me search for him? What's up?”

“I asked Vivian to find him. He stormed out of the cafeteria. He came inside in tears after bring out with in the courtyard with his brother and Theresa and Alex. Toby and Madeline are outside too. I don't know what happened. Mina was trying to get it out of him and he got angry.”

“I wonder what's up,” you muse to yourself. “I'll look for him. This was...?”

“Not even five minutes ago. He's either headed for his room or a lounge. I'm not sure. I'm still making lunch. If you see Dirk can you send him my way? I may need some help since Mina is outside asking what happened.”

“All right, thanks. Will do.” You hang up and head around to the lounge by the cafeteria. You're not even all the way down the stairs when you hear loud wailing and sobbing and cut off Scottish words and phrases. You think you catch snippets of swear words.

“Doesnae feckin' caur!” you hear followed by another loud sob.

You narrow your eyes. At first you supposed he was crying over his brother, but now you were thinking otherwise. You quietly slip around the corner and into the lounge. You sit down quietly next to Vivian who is holding Danny and you start rubbing Danny's back. You feel him stiffen under your touch, so you bring your hand back. “Aam sure that's nae th' case, laddie,” you reply back in a Scottish accent.

He pulls away from Vivian and examines you. He narrows his eyes. “You're all bum and no parsley,” he responds, tossing your claim out the window.

“Yer bum's oot the windae,” you respond. You're thankful for the year you spent abroad in Scotland. It wasn't that you didn't enjoy it, but that was the year it came to going to Scotland or Egypt. You chose Scotland, thinking it would come in handy sometime in the future. Truth be told, it was Jade who suggest you go to Scotland instead and now you see why.

He rolls his eyes at you. “Don't interrupt on another person's convversation. It's rude and in poor taste. Besides, noww that you jumped in mid-convversation, you know nary a thing.”

You smile at him. “I know that you're crying because you think somebody doesn't care. But as I said, I'm sure that's not true.”

“And like I told you, you havve no solid ground to make that claim on. For one, you havve no idea wwho I'm talkin' about, and for twwo, this _wwas_ a conversation that I wwas trying to havve wwith only Vvivvian.”

“I heard you as I was coming down the stairs across the hall. Besides, I got a call from Jade. She alerted me that something was up, so here I am.”

“Yes, here you are,” he says with a sneer. “Noww can you go?”

“Nope,” you say with a grin, not moving. In fact you sit back further and watch his face kind of begin to twitch. “In order to get me to go, you need to tell me what's up.”

“Vvivv?” he asks. You can tell he's asking for help.

“I don't think it'll hurt anything if you let Jake in on your little secret,” she said with a smile.

You scoot forward again and smile. “Don't worry. I can keep a secret. I'll tell you one of mine if you tell me your secret.”

You watched Danny glare at Vivian. “I thought you wwere on my side,” he pouted.

“All's fair in love and war, Bubbles,” she tells him with a smile. Her eyes were lit up and it lit up her whole face. Jake had to say, even though she was Connie's daughter, she was nothing like her. She seemed to glow with an ethereal light from the inside. Her dark skin was beautiful and her hair was light and fluffy like a well-baked cake.

“Ugh, fine.” He turns his glare to you. “You'd better not tell a single soul or I'll figure out how to make you pay,” he growls.

“Danny,” Vivian reprimands gently. “Don't be rude.”

He rolls his eyes but his expression changes. “You heard me saying that they don't fucking care. What you didn't take into account was the they. You're dead wrong if you think I'm talking about my brother.”

You incline your head slightly to acknowledge that you're listening. “Who is the person that you're talking about?” You lean forward and grin teasingly, amused when he leans back slightly. You lean back again, noticing he leans forward again. “Is this person,” you lean again and motion him forward. “Is this person the object of your affection?”

He narrows his eyes and glares at you, but he doesn't pull away. You quickly wonder if you should just for safety. He spits on your glasses. Yeah, you should have leaned back when given the chance. Why don't you follow your instincts around these guys? You remove your glasses and wipe the saliva off of them. “Fuck off,” he tells you bitingly.

You take no offense to the interaction that just occurred. Instead, you calmly clean off your glasses. “I'll tell you my secret. You don't have to tell me yours if you really don't want to.” You take a deep breath. “All I ask you is that you keep my secret.”

He raises a single eyebrow, giving you a quizzical look. “You'll trust me with one of your secrets even though I flat out don't want to trust you with mine?”

You nod, raising your glasses to your eyes. Not clear enough yet. “I figure if you understand that I trust you with my secret, then maybe you can trust me with yours.”

He narrows his eyes at you. “You're using that psychological nonsense on me,” he accuses.

You shake your head, placing your glasses back on your face. “Not at all.” You glance at Vivian. “My secret involves a co-worker. Under no circumstances are you to repeat what I'm going to tell you.”

She pantomimes zipping her lips. “Secret's safe with me.”

You take a deep breath, look around, and lean forward. “I have a major crush on Dirk.”

Vivian giggles. “Really?” she asks with wide eyes.

“Uh-huh,” you say with a nod, leaning back.

Danny groans. “Fine. I guess if you trust me enough to tell me your secret, I'll tell you mine.” He looks over at Vivian. “You are not allowed to laugh, especially not like the first time I told you. That was bad.” He turns away and mutters something, not looking at you.

You narrow your eyes, stupidly thinking that maybe that would up your hearing. “Repeat that please?” you ask quietly.

“I have a thing for the fuckin' Captor,” he practically hisses at you.

Your eyes go wide and your jaw almost drops. “But you two...I mean, you never get along.”

He rolls his eyes. “Tell me about it. I don't evven knoww wwhy I havve fuckin' feelings for him. He makes my insides knot up and his fuckin' lisp makes me wwant to strangle him.”

“Jake?” you hear a voice call out. “Are you down here?”

“In here, Dave,” you call out. “What's up?”

“I got a text from Jane wondering if she can come out of her room.”

“Oh, she must feel like socializing.” You jump to your feet. “Gotta go, but thank you for opening up to me. And your secret's safe with me, Daniel.”

He shakes his head. “Call me Danny.” He grins. “And I won't tell a soul. Cross my heart, hope to die.”

You smile to yourself as you ascend the stairs. Roxy had been telling you that he needed more friends and you think that things may actually be looking up for him. But you are an optimist so maybe that's just how you see the situation. You pass by the room Rose and Roxy share and see them in there with Kharl, Missy, Nichole, Hannah, and Penny. You quickly poke your head in. “Cheerio, mates,” you say with a grin. “Danny is downstairs with Vivian. I think he may need some friendly support. Just a heads up. I'm going to go check on Jane and John. Then I'll be back down too.”

“I wonpurr what happened.” Nichole stands up while Kharl finishes signing what you just said to Missy. Kharl stands first and gives Missy his hand to help her up. Next, Roxy hops off the bed.

“I don't know, but I'm gonna go find out. Who's with me?”

Kharl and Missy both give her a thumbs up but Rose shakes her head. “You know how Danny gets around too many people. We'll sit with him at lunch or head outside in a bit. He doesn't like a crowd of people fawning over him.”

You continu down the hall almost to the last room on that side of the second floor. You knock on the door. “Jane?” you call.

“Hi ya, Jake. You can come in,” she replies.

You slowly open the door, partially thinking that she might just trying to lure you in to make you Trickster. She's tried to do it before.

“Silly,” she says. She must have noticed how you're trying to creep your way into her room. “I'm fine. I'm just annoyed that this is the only day that I'm allowed out of my gosh dang room. It's not like I'm going to eat people or bake them into cakes.”

Your mind snaps to something that happened in another life and you repress a shudder. You look her in the eye and smile. “So, you're fine?”

“I want to bake, but that's a norm when your mom is the face of Crocker Corp. What I really want to do is walk around and stretch and see my dear brother. How is he?”

“You would need to ask Jade about him. She's his only nurse and he's her only patient.”

“That's lovely honestly,” she says with a smile. She stands and you take her hand.

“Do you want to go ask Jade if she can check up on him?”

She nods and you both exit the room.

* * *

=====> Be Danny

Vivian found you and dragged you into the downstairs lounge, the one that you had been sitting in with Rose and Hannah before you ran to library to hide from Xander the previous day. She pulled you into her lap and you cried into her neck, wailing in Scottish. You actually didn't realize how loud you were being until you felt a third hand on your back.

“Aam sure that's nae th' case, laddie,” the intruder says to you in a Scottish accent.

You grumble something into Vivian's neck and pull away. You narrow your eyes at Jake. He has no fucking clue what he's talking about. He doesn't even know who _you_ are talking about. He needs to shut his chitinous windpipe and leave you two the fuck alone so you can vent to her in peace. He's almost as bad as the dual-spectacled pain in the ass you left in the courtyard. “You're all bum and no parsley,” you bite back.

“Yer bum's oot the windae,” he responds back and it takes all of your self-control not to reach over and strangle him on the spot. Instead, you roll your eyes.

You're not talking nonsense. He's the one whose talking all the nonsense. He doesn't even know how you are griping about. He probably thinks that you're griping about your brother. He couldn't be more wrong if that was his conclusion. Maybe, on some other day, it would be true, but right now you're not griping about anybody that you're related to by blood. No, no. This ones worse and right now you don't know how to make the feelings go away.

“Don't interrupt on another person's convversation. It's rude and in poor taste. Besides, noww that you jumped in mid-convversation, you know nary a thing.” Maybe if you keep speaking in a posh tone using words normal people don't use, he'll go away.

Instead, he does just the opposite. He smiles at you and you want to punch him in the jaw. Luckily for him your hands are still tightly locked around Vivian's neck. “I know that you're crying because you think somebody doesn't care. But as I said, I'm sure that's not true.”

You repress your urge to roll your eyes. Instead, you speak to him in a drawling tone. You have no idea what else to do besides resort to physical violence. Which Vivian wouldn't approve of anyway, so you promptly toss that idea out the window. “And like I told you, you havve no solid ground to make that claim on. For one, you havve no idea wwho I'm talkin' about, and for twwo, this _wwas_ a conversation that I wwas trying to havve wwith only Vvivvian.” Couldn't he get the picture already that you just wanted him to scram?

“I heard you as I was coming down the stairs across the hall.” He gestured at the entrance he came in through. “Besides, I got a call from Jade. She alerted me that something was up, so here I am.”

“Yes, here you are.” You sneer at him, your lips curling away from your teeth menacingly. “Noww can you go?” you ask him in a cutting tone, hoping that _maybe_ he'll get the hint. Not that that's worked previously in this conversation.

“Nope,” he says with a wide grin, unmoving. In fact, he scoots back on the couch so he's leaning against it. You begin physically twitching at that. You can feel your face contorting and twitching involuntarily along with your fingers. They are twitching in Vivian's long dark hair. “In order to get me to go, you need to tell me what's up.”

No. You refuse. You bloody flat-out refuse. You don't need his help and he doesn't need to know your personal business. But you also know he isn't lying about the not leaving thing. Fuck... “Vvivv?” you ask, your tone pleading. Maybe she can get you out of this. It's worth a shot.

“I don't it'll hurt anything if you let Jake in on your little secret,” she says, looking up at you with a small smile.

No, no, no, no, no. Bad idea. Bad idea. Bad idea. Your alert scanner was going off loud and clear in your head.

You watch him scoot forward again and he looks at you with a smile. “Don't worry. I can keep a secret. I'll tell you one of mind if you tell me your secret.”

You glare at Vivian, though you know it doesn't reach your eyes. You can't be mad at her. She's too freaking cute. Your glare turns into a pout. “I thought you wwere on my side.”

“All's fair in love and war, Bubbles,” and just like that, your pout dissolves.

You have the urge to nuzzle into her neck again, but you don't. Instead, you glare. “Ugh, fine.” You turn your glare to Jake. “You'd better not tell a single soul or I'll figure out how to make you pay,” you growl.

“Danny,” Vivian chides you gently. “Don't be rude.”

You roll your eyes and sighed internally. Fine. You rein in your immense distaste for English's annoyance. “You heard me saying that they don't fucking care,” you explain to him in a civil tone. Doing so leaves a bitter taste in your mouth but you ignore it. You'd get something to drink later. “What you didn't take into account was the they. You're dead wrong if you think I'm talking about my brother.”

The dark haired boy inclined his head to show that he was listening. He catches your eyes and leans in with a teasing smile. You lean away from him in disgust. “Who is the person that you're talking about?” You can see he's baiting you but you don't take it. You watch him lean back again and you straighten up again as well. “Is this person...” He leans in slowly and motions you forward. You narrow your eyes at him but humor him anyway. “Is this person the object of your affection?”

You set your jaw in anger and annoyance as your eyes narrow in a glare. You don't pull away though. You aren't going to let him win. Instead, you spit at him, your mucus secretion hitting a bulls-eye on his glasses. “Fuck off,” you nip sharply.

He seems to take no offense to your rude behavior and instead he proceeds to calmly remove his glasses and begins cleaning them by wiping off your saliva. “I'll tell you me secret,” he concedes. “You don't have to tell me yours if you really don't want to.” He huffs quietly. “All I ask you is that keep my secret.”

You raise an eyebrow at him. The fuck? You're being nothing but purposefully rude to him and he's still willing to tell you one of his secrets? He isn't even expecting you to tell him anything in return. Where the hell is the fucking catch? “You'll trust me with one of your secrets even though I flat out don't want to trust you with mine?”

He nods, raises he glasses to eye-level to gaze through them, and begins cleaning them again. “I figure if you understand that I trust you with my secret, then maybe you can trust me yours.”

There was a fucking catch. There had to be. Nobody was this nice without an ulterior motive. Not to you anyway. Vivi is another story completely because your parents know each other. Mina... Sometimes there is a catch with her, even though your parents are friends. You and your brother had been friends with them for years.

You narrow your eyes at Jake. “You're using that psychological nonsense on me,” you accuse him. You got enough of that from Rose and Hannah. You got it a little bit from Roxy as well, but not as much as you got from her cousin.

He shakes his head, finally putting his glasses back on. “No not at all.” He glances at Vivian, making her promise that she won't spill his secret either. You find that odd. You know that she would never tell a soul. He wouldn't even have to ask her. But she's smiling and pantomiming zipping her lips, humoring him anyway. “Secret's safe with me.”

He takes a breath and looks around, making sure nobody is around. He leans forward. “I have a major crush on Dirk,” he tells you both.

Vivian giggles and you really don't know what to think. “Really?” she asks with wide eyes, but you don't care, not really.

“Uh-huh,” he says with a smile, leaning back on the couch.

You groan. “Fine.” Just make it go away. Shut up and leave, damn it! “I guess if you trust me enough to tell me your secret, I'll tell you mine.” You can't believe that you're actually about to do this. You look at Vivian. “You are not allowed to laugh, especially not like the first time I told you. That was bad.” You turn away and muttered something really quickly about dual-spectacled douche bags who talk but really end up saying nothing.

“Repeat that please?” Jake asks.

Of course he wouldn't be able to hear what you said. You wanted him to _not_ hear you. You groan internally and hiss, “I have a thing the fuckin' Captor,” at him. You want him to get up and walk away now but he doesn't.

Instead, his eyes go wide and he's looking at you like you grew a pair of wings or something. “But you two...I mean, you never get along.”

Right, yes, thank you for pointing out the painfully obvious. You roll your eyes at him. “Tell me about it. I don't evven knoww wwhy I havve fuckin' feelings for him. He makes my insides knot up and his fuckin' lisp makes me wwant to strangle him.” Yet, you were still attracted to him for whatever reason.

“Jake?” a voice calls out from out in the hall. You breathe a sigh of relief. Oh thank god. Dave, you fucking life saver. “Are you down here?”

“In here, Dave? What's up?”

Dave poked his head around the corner. “I got a text from Jane wondering if she can come out of her room.”

“Oh, she must feel like socializing.” You watch him jump to his feet and you feel like cheering. He'll be gone and out of your hair. Yay! He turns to you. “Gotta go, but thank you for opening up to me.” He smiles at you reassuringly. “And your secret's safe with me, Daniel.”

You shake your head. God, that sounded so painfully formal. You two traded secrets. You two shouldn't be so formal with each other, no matter how much that kills you. Or makes you want to kill him. If he wasn't so chipper, you might be able to deal with him, but, oh well. That aside, he isn't bad. “Call me Danny.” You grin. “And I won't tell a soul. Cross my heart, hope to die.” Maybe you weren't quite alone as you thought. You watch him leave and turn your attention back to Dave. “Dave, can you get Karkat for me? He's out in the courtyard. A few others are out there. And my brother.” You glance away. “Just make sure he doesn't come it too, please. I'd rather not talk to him right now.”

* * *

=====> Be Carter

You briskly walk through the halls of Skaia. You quickly check one of the lounge areas and see that a whole mass of people has congregated. You see Danny sprawled out on the longer couch with his legs draped over Kharl and Missy, his head in Vivian's lap. He's talking with Nichole and Roxy about books or movies or something. Something related to wizards and science or something. You're not sure.

“Hey, Danny,” you say, entering the lounge area. “Dave told me that you aren't doing too well.” You take a place on the floor next to your younger sister. “Mina also came outside and told us that you ran off on her for no reason.”

“Yeah... I should apologize to her for that,” he responds sheepishly.

“She came out and questioned us after you left. You worried her you know.”

“I knoww,” he says quietly. “I didn't mean to wworry her. I just felt like I needed to be alone.”

“What happened out there anyway?” you ask gently, craning your neck to look up at him.

“Just a wwhole lot of family shit between Chess and I that I don't wwant to talk about and then fuckin' Xan bein' out there too didn't help shit.” He sighs and you stay silent, knowing there's more to come. “I feel like he's alwways silently judging me, ya knoww?” he asks quietly.

“I noticed that as shell,” Vivian chimes in. “I always feel this strange tension when the three of us are in the same vicinity.” You look over at her and catch her eye. “What makes it stranger st-eel is that I don't feel that same tension between Alex and I when Danny isn't around.”

Your hands fly to your face and you groan in annoyance. Fucking Captor. He's not subtle about anything, is he? You're gonna give him a black eye next time you see him.

“I don't get it,” Danny says. “I havven't evven done anything to him.” He groans and sits up, tucking his knees up to his chest. “Howw does this alwways happen to me?”

You quirk and eyebrow and look up at him. “What do you mean?”

He glances down at you. “Did you talk to Ariel last night?” he asks.

You shake your head. And you were so busy with Gamzee that you didn't have time to check your computer to see if you had been pestered by anyone.

“I had a fit last night in the library. I opened up to her about evverythin'. I saww you dowwn here wwith Xan and absconded upstairs. I broke. I'vve nevver felt vvery wwelcome in neww places. My brother and I movved all ovver wwith our father. Chess alwways made friends. I...didn't. Not wwell, not easily, and definitely not alwways. The longest time wwe evver stayed anywwhere wwas fivve months.” He stops talking and shifts a bit, staring off into the distance. “Evvery place I movved to though, I nevver failed to devvelop a crush on _somebody_.”

He sighs and you slowly begin to see where this was heading.

“They either didn't want anything to do with me, just wwanted to be friends, they had somebody else, or wwe just wweren't compatible at all. Chester, on the other hand alwways had friends, and he brought girls home too.” He looks back down at you, his chin resting on his knees. “I mean, I'm okay wwith just being friends, but sometimes I just wwanted a little bit more. Did you knoww that Chester used to joke about me being gay? He'd ask me wwhen I wwas bringin' home a boyfriend.” He shakes his head. “Wwouldn't a mattered though. They didn't like me much either. This...” He waves in the general direction of the courtyard and Alex. “This ain't any different from that.” He sighs and looks around. “Thank you guys. For being here. For putting up wwith me. Did you knoww that I actually did open up to my last crush. He laughed at me and called me a fag.” He rubbed his hands over his face. “I didn't tell Ariel that, but that's wwhere I dreww the line. I wwas done wwith feeling alone and bein' dragged evvrywwhere by dad and Chess. I wanted somewwhere stable, around people, in a place I could call home. I just wwant friends wwho I wwon't leavve. I can't evven get in touch with the old friends I had.” He stops, taking a deep breath and trying to calm himself.

Roxy turns around and, reaching up, takes Danny's hand. “You have us now, Danny. You have all of us here and none of us are going anywhere. Promise!” She smiles brightly at him. “And we don't care what your sexuality is. It won't make any difference to us.”

“I'm just going to back track a bit here and ask if you have a crush on Xander,” you say, processing everything that Danny just sort of dumped on you.

Roxy looks at you with wide eyes. “What would give you that idea? I can't see them working out in any timeline,” she declares, emphasizing your point.

“That's my point though. He said he always ends up crushing on people that it could never work with,” you point out.

Nichole looks at you and looks up at Danny. “Do you?” she asks with wide eyes. “Can I add you two to my shipping wall?”

Danny laughs and glances away, slightly red. “I don't think that wwould wwork out.”

“Oh my god, you do!” you accuse. “That's why you ran! And that's why the tears. OH!” Now you're putting it all together in your head. Danny didn't abscond the courtyard because of his brother, he went back inside because of Alex. Did this mean that you could officially ship FrostIron now?

“I'm just done wwith havving romantic feelings for someone and then havving them be shot down. Ya knoww?” Danny asked. You could relate to that. Not that you really had romantic feelings for someone. That had kind of died a long time ago, in your past life. Oh well. Things were bound to work out for one of you eventually.

* * *

=====> Continue to be Carter and jump forward a few hours.

You walk into the cafeteria to check on lunch and see how things are going outside. You wonder where your dad is but you think he'll be around for lunch. Hopefully, he'll bring Grandma Dolly. She isn't your grandma by blood not is she actually old enough to be your grandma. She is only seven years older than your dad, but, by adoption, she's his mom. So by all technicality, she is your grandma. Penny and Hannah are her daughters, but since they are pretty close in age to you, Kobe, Nichole, and Missy, you four just see them as your cousins. You lived together for a time until you, Nichole, and Hannah got admitted to Skaia. Grandma Dolly didn't like that but she trusted you and your sisters to be safe. She knows that Nichole and Hannah aren't awakened yet. She also trusts you to keep an eye on them and keep them safe.

Sitting, or rather sleeping, in one of the chairs is Xander. He has a pained look on his face but after a moment, it softens and he looks peaceful. You sit to his left and keep an eye on him. You know his nightmares and flashbacks are how his aspect manifests itself. Sometimes, you wish there was something you could do to help, but you know that the only thing you can do is make sure he doesn't damage himself or others.

“He'll be fine.” You look up to see Penny sit down across from you. “It's just how his classpect works. There isn't much doom to vibe in this timeline yet. He's gathering memories from other timelines and other dimensions. They'll make more sense later.” She smiles at you. “It may even help you with your job.” Her eyes sparkle as she stretches her arm across the table. You do the same, meeting her hand halfway. She grasps it hers and tangles your fingers together. “Knight of Blood.”

“Is it like this for you?” you ask quietly, glancing at your hand entangled in hers. “Is it always this difficult?” You glance up at her. “I just feel like I don't remember anything that they do. I feel like I _should_ , but I don't. The only thing I remember clearly is the most recent timeline I've been in.”

“Karkat,” she says, laying her other hand over yours, “you haven't been in all the timelines that everyone else has. Not everyone has had the completely same experience. Just like everyone has experienced different things in this life, they have all experienced different things depending on which timeline.” She gives you a reassuring smile. “Not everyone is going to remember everything exactly as you are, and not everyone is going to remember each other. Remember that and things will be that much easier for you.”

“Yes, but—”

She cuts you off, effectivly silencing you. “Karkat, look at me,” she asks. You look her in the eyes. You feel yourself relax and you breath in deeply through your nose and exhale out your mouth. “Think back to your previous lives.” You can feel her looking deep into your eyes and you suddenly feel very exposed. “Who do you remember? Do you remember me or do you remember Hannah?”

“I—” But you stop. As connected as you feel to Porrim, you also feel this connected to Grandma Dolly. But you think about the bond Dolly has with your dad and the bond that Kobe has with Hannah and Penny. You then compare his bond with the bond you have with them. You've always looked up to Penny. You feel like you need to protect Hannah. She's your elder by a few years but you feel as though she needs your protection since she hasn't awakened yet. You think of the way Penny protects Kobe and you think back to the way Hannah used to protect you, at school, in the neighborhood. You know Penny would do the same, but you thought maybe age had something to do with it. You think you're finally realizing that those weren't the only reasons. “I never shared a run with you, did I?” you ask. “You shared your runs with Kobe.”

She nods. “And mom shared her runs with Jax,” she tells you. “They were the Dolorosa and the Sufferer. Not to say that the memories that you and Kobe share of your own fleeting runs as the Sufferer don't mean anything.”

“You think they're just bleeding into our heads from those other doomed timelines, don't you?” You don't know why, but you think those could be very good warning signs.

She nods. “It's not a bad thing. That means neither of your had to suffer the same fate your father did. These could very well be warnings. From what and who, I don't know, but it could prove useful in the future.”

* * *

=====> Be unknown

You glance outside. The rain outside is falling steadily. You find yourself wondering if she got home safely.*

Then you find yourself wondering who she is and you draw a blank. Curious. You continue to wonder and then you are struck with the subtle realization that this is a dream.

“Honey, dinner is getting cold,” you hear a voice call out to you from what you think has to be the kitchen. Maybe the dining room. Did you even have one of those. You have no idea so you follow the voice out of the room. You walk into a nice sized kitchen where the table is set.

You turn around and smile. “Dinner lookth amazing, Aradia. Thank you.”

The phone begins to ring so you answer it. You recognize the number as Latula's. You wonder why she is calling you and then you wonder why you wonder. Before you can dwell on that sequence any further, you're involuntarily reaching forward to answer the phone. You see that your skin is gray and that your fingernails are yellow. “Latula?” you ask. You're about to ask her what's wrong when she frantically interrupts you.

“Sollux, I need to come over.” She's in tears and her voice is breaking. “I know we're normally kismesis but right now I really need a moirail and you're the only person I can call. I'd call Tavros since he's my main moirail but I can't.” She breaks down in loud cries and you don't exactly know what to do.**

You swallow the unknown tears that you're feeling for her. You see Latula as a little sister mainly. The kismesisitude you two hold is based on petty annoyance and playfulness. You feel like she is a better moirail that the other moirail you have but you slipped her into blackrom because your pale quadrent had already been filled. Occasionally, quadrant flips happen though. You make quiet shushing sounds into the phone, hoping those calm her down enough to talk. “Why can't you call Tavros?” you ask her in a calm and quiet tone.

“He's—” She gasps into the line. “He's...” She gulps and swallows. “Sollux, he's dead!” she cries and breaks down again.

Your eyes go wide and you feel sick to your stomach. You turn to Aradia, not sure what to do or say to her. You ask the stupidest question you can think of at the moment. “Are you sure he's dead?”

She sniffles and you think she's probably nodding into the phone. You've seen her do it when you have been at her house, nodding or shaking her head while on the phone. “Yesterday was his day with Gamzee. The days after those are always days we hang out. Cooking, reading, baking. Something.” You nod into the phone. “I called him today and he didn't pick up.” You bite back the hiss that you feel building. “I didn't think much of it because he's tired sometimes the next day. So I give him a few hours. In that time he usually calls me back.” You hear the tears in her voice again. “Except this time he didn't. So I called him.”

Fuck. You were going to kill him. God damn it! You were rip him apart with your psionics and finally be done with him. You're rage turned to minor panic in an instant though.

“He's dead. He's been decapitated. His blood was everywhere. Sollux, help me I don't know what to do. I'm scared.”

“Hold tight, I'm gonna come find you.” You hang the phone up and turn to Aradia. “Gamthzee killed Tavroth and Latula found hith body.”

Aradia instantly pales. “I need to call Aranea and warn her.”

“It may be too late. Yethterday wath Gamthee'th day with hith matethprit. Today wath hith day with hith kithmethith which ith why Aranea wath over here on her own today.”

“You don't think...” Aradia trails off, her eyes wide.

You shake your head. “I don't know what I think. All I know ith that Gamthee thtepped way out of line here. I need to take action before more innothent people get hurt.”

Next, you hear wailing and crying coming from behind you, but you don't pay attention to that.*** You're too busy engrossed in what is in front of you. Gamzee, pinned to a wall via your psionics. “YOU KILLED THEM!! YOU KILLED YOUR FUCKING MATETHPRIT AND YOUR GOG DAMNED KITHMETHITH!!! THAT ITHN'T THUPPOTHED TO HAPPEN!!” White hot rage is coursing through your system as voices and images flit past your vision as well.

One is a memory of Aradia, Aranea, and yourself sitting in the living room, talking while the most amazing smell wafts in from the kitchen. You find yourself wondering if it would be all right to venture in and a snag a sweet or something.

You feel arms wrap around you and you look up to see Gamzee, with his arms around you. The part of you that's completely disconnected from what's going on wants to claw your way out of his arms and slap him. What was he doing? He isn't your moirail. The fuck?? But the other part of you, the part that is reliving the memory reaches up and plays with his untamed hair. “Pale for you,” you hear yourself whisper. You lean back into him and he nuzzles into your hair.

“Pale for you too, Solbro,” he returns.

You want to gag. You feel dysphoric. You want out of there. This isn't good, this isn't right. What's going on???

To your relief, the hug is cut short. “Why don't we see how things are going in the kitchen,” you suggest with a smile.

He nods in agreement and lets you go. You stand up and, to your utter horror and distaste, take his hand. The both of you walk into the kitchen and see Tavros, Latula, and Eridan in the kitchen cooking. You quickly wonder if it's a birthday celebration or what. Then you quickly wonder why Eridan is around.

“Smells good, doesn't it?” Latula asks with a cackle that reminds you freakishly of Terezi. You've never heard Madeline cackle, but you think it has to be a bloodline trait since you're pretty sure Redglare did the same thing.

“And I'm, uh, pretty sure it, uh, tastes just as, um, amazing?” Tavros ends his statement on a high pitch making it less of a statement and more of a question as he glances at Latula for support.

“Totally amazing, Tav,” she repeats with a smile. “I bet it even tastes radical!”

Eridan snorts at her choice in words. “Amazing, yes. Radical, no. This isn't one of your skate competitions, Pyrope.” You can't tell if he's joking with her or being sincerely mean. You never have been able to read his tone well.

You figure it's joking when she turns to him and sticks out her tongue. “You'll see. I'm not insane. Radical will catch on and so will skateboards. So, melnh!” She sticks her tongue out at him and you laugh

Eridan chortles and walk away from the stove for a moment, Latula picking up his slack. “Hey, Sol,” he says walking up to you. He glares up at Gamzee who glares back. You untangle hands with the highblood and he takes a step back, allowing you to go off with Eridan into another room. “I want to get your opinion on something.” You nod and he pulls a box out of the pocket of his black slacks. That's when you realize that he's cooking in the kitchen in a suit. God, this guy... You don't know what to think, but your respect for him goes up a few notches. You focus on the scene again and in the box is a semi-small, blue fish pendant. ****

“Whoa,” you breath. You gawk at it for a moment before taking the box from his hand and giving it a closer look. “It'th amazing.” You return your gaze to him. “For Aranea?”

He nods, smile wide. “Think she'll like it?”

You nod slowly, still staring at it. “I think the'll love it. Ith thith thapphire?” you ask, turning your attention to him again.

“Only the best for my shining spider,” he replies, smiling brightly.

The memories fade and you feel suffocated by the rage you feel coursing through your body. Only this time, you feel it as your memory counter-part. You were friends. You were _all_ friends and then he goes off kills them?? He fucking _killed_ his matesprit and his kismesis?! What the fuck??? Where did he get off doing such a thing? Never mind the complete fear and pain it cause Latula. Nevermind how it even affected Aranea! Her matesprit was killed by his fucking kismesis. You needed to do something. You couldn't let this continue. You returned your full attenion to Gamzee. “HOW DARE YOU!? WHAT GIVETH YOU THE FUCKING RIGHT TO DETHIDE WHO LIVETH AND WHO DIETH?! IT ITHN'T YOUR PLATHE NOR ITH IT YOUR RIGHT!!” And if killing his kismesis and matesprit wasn't enough, he had come looking for you as well. Only this time, he got more than he had bargained for. “I WILL NOT TOLERATE THITH KIND OF INTHOLENTHE!! I HAVE HALF A MIND TO BRING HER IMPERIALNETH INTO THITH ATH WELL CONTHIDERING IT WATH HER MOIRAIL YOU MURDERED!!” You begin to tug him in opposite directions with your hands ever so slightly, relishing the pained noises being pulled out of his mouth.

You barely hear the noise of a throat clearing over the noise in the room but it was enough. Half of your attention is snatched while the other part of your attention is still trained on Gamzee.

The part of your attention that was grabbed registered Feferi standing in the doorway. She looked older than you are used to seeing her, but then again, so had Eridan, Latula, Gamzee, and Tavros. Oddly enough, but maybe not so odd, Aranea looked the same.

She stomps past you, screaming in rage at the snapped clown. “GAMZEE MAKARA, YOU CULLED ERIDAN!!!” she screeches. “HOW COULD YOU?!” You hear the tears in her voice you know they aren't purely from sorrow. “THAT'S NOT WHAT A PROPER KISMESIS DOES!” She screeches angrily and a few fuchsia tears land on the white carpet below. “I SHOULD HAVE YOU CULLED FOR SUCH A HEINOUS CRIME!”

Suddenly, you feel yourself jerk awake and you're still in the cafeteria. A few people are looking at you. You see a blue girl sitting in the chair opposite you, staring at you. You blink a few times, trying to reassociate yourself in your surroundings and she's still there, just subtly so. You feel arms wrap around you in a hug and you jerk away only to turn around and see a very confused Toby. You stand up and quickly wrap your arms around him, burying you face in his neck. “Nightmare,” you mutter. “Bad one. Thorry.”

“Everything okay?” he whispers.

“I-I...” You shake your head and shrug. “I don't know. Tulie's okay, right?” At this point you don't question the weird nickname. Probably something you picked up by slipping into that god awful dream. But was it a dream? Or was it something else? You hate this. You hate your aspect. You hate your class. You hate the game. What the fuck?? You also have this sinking feeling that all of this mess is literally your fault, even from the get go. You want to lay down, you want asprin for your fucking headache, and you never want to wake up again. Although, you may just end up living in an endless loop of ongoing nightmares and memories and fuck that shit.

“God, you are the wizard of radically odd nicknames, Xander,” she laughs and ruffles your hair. “I'm fine,” she says with a laugh. You feel her wrap her arms around you too and you suddenly realize why you would place her in your black quadrant, because even though it was blackrom, it was better than having nothing with her at all.

You broke from the hug and a voice to the left of you asked, “What happened?”

You look around the cafeteria, taking in Gavin—Gamzee?—and Trevor who was in a wheel-chair and his leg in a cast. Vivian, Jake, and Jade were setting out the food. Mina was—God, where was she? She wasn't anywhere in sight. Neither was Chester, though. Penny and Hannah were sitting with Jacob. You look back at Carter. “Where's ED?” you asked. He was one of few that you didn't see in the cafeteria.

“He's fine,” he tells you with a small smile. “He's with Rose, Roxy, and Nichole.” His smile widens a bit, but you think it may be forced. “I'm sure they wouldn't mind if you joined.”

You shake your head. You wanted to clear your mind, figure out what you just saw, and, if possible, talk to Aradia if she was still awake. “I just...needed to know. I'm gonna go to the library. Not hungry,” you say, answering his quizzical look. “I have a few books I want to check out.”

“Hey, Solbro,” says a drawling voice. Shit, shit, shit, shit! Gamzee! You panic and think about running but you can't force yourself to move. “Did you see Trevor's leg?” Gavin, maybe? You calmed slightly at that thought. You did notice it but you didn't focus on it. You look back over at the blue girl who is still sitting across from you. She looks sad at the mention of Trevor's leg and you're curious but don't ask.

Suddenly, your legs give out beneath you and you see the blinding red and blue glow of your psionics, you hear Aranea's cries behind you, Aradia's shouts, Feferi yelling about culling Eridan, and you black out. You see blood painting the walls of the white room and you feel stomach bile rising in your throat. You scream, you shout, you don't know what to do.

Suddenly you feel clammy hands on bare skin and you jolt awake.

You're in the library. Aranea is knelt down in front of you. Karkat is beside you. Eridan is there too and even his is looking at you, afraid you've lost your senses.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * References the flashback that Aranea had in chapter 2  
> ** References chapter 3 and the "odd dream" Sollux had about Latula being his kismesis  
> *** References the part in chapter 3 that Gamzee blanks out of the conversation with Karkat because he hears screaming in his head.  
> **** References the necklace Aranea is wearing in chapter 2
> 
> I hope the flashback doesn't seriously confuse people. It'll all be explained soon. Sollux is pretty confused and put off by all of it as well.
> 
> \-----
> 
> I honestly hope nobody minds OC's if they are well written. I think they are kind of necessary to keep things going in the right direction.


	6. Family Time and Separation OR The Part of the Story Where Sollux Panics About Eridan Going Off With Gamzee and Cronus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dualscar and The Condesce have a talk, Dualscar has a way of getting his way, Chester (Cronus?) stands up to Meenah, Toby reverts back to post-accident Mituna, Karkat says something that makes Sollux just about flip his lid, and Danny leaves for a trip with his family. Oh, this oughta be fun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gah!!! Sorry guys!! I've been so stressed today and freaking out about kin stuff and stuff in this life that I've completely forgot that today was Sunday!! I kept getting distracted. I meant to have this posted much earlier. I'm so sorry!!!
> 
> Also, my view for this story is that nobody has the same classpect. I kept the aspect the same within all the families though. Amporas = Hope; Peixes = Life; Serkets = Light; etc.
> 
> Don't hate me for that, I just didn't want there to be doubles in classpects. It would be redundant. And no, it doesn't take away from anything. Multiple time lines, multiple games, multiple outcomes - including various classpects. It'll be explained later I think, but the ancestors and the dancestors are two completely different people. The Condesce, Dualscar, The Sufferer, etc all existed, but different classes than canon.
> 
> Please don't hate.

=====> Be Her Imperial Condescension and have a conversation with Orphaner Dualscar three weeks in the past.

“Do not undermine my authority, Dualscar,” you snarl into the phone. You are in your office on the Skaia campus, your usual hole, away from mental facility. It also meant that you were away from Scratch and Noir. You felt like you could breath, but you knew that wouldn't last long. You hear him chuckle and you fight back a snarl.

“On the contrary, I'm not undermining anything, your _Imperialness_.” You hear the sneer in his voice and your lips curl around your teeth in a silent snarl. He laughs. Hollowly, but it's still a laugh.

“This isn't a _game_ , Orpheus,” you hiss angrily. In no way was this a game. Lives are on the line and you had accepted terms and all this other bullshark crap before you really even knew what you were signing up for, before you even knew _who_ you had been. And now that you remembered you regretted being young and naive and glubbin' careless.

“No,” he agrees seriously. “This isn't a game.” Good, you're on the same page. You felt a little less panicked about things now, but you still feel uneasy. “This is life.” God, how did this happen? You knew you weren't on the same page as the others now. You feel guilty, but at the same time, all you were trying to do was some damage control. “Lives are at stake.” And you know this. That's why you're on the _in_ side, not the _out_ side. “Our _childrens'_ lives are at stake and you don't seem to give a bullshark's crap about it!”

Auuughhh!!!! You feel like yelling that into the phone out of frustration. Yeah, not the same page! At the moment, it doesn't even sound like the same _book_! Of course you give a shit! That's why you're on the inside, not the outside! You want to get the information and the details to avoid the grim death stuff.

“I know you think you can win, but if you win, _everyone_ dies,” he explains to you.

 _I'm not dense!_ You want to shout it at him to make him understand that you are not on the same side as Scratch and Noir, but if you even _hint_ that you are playing them the same way they are playing you, you. Are. Screwed. And you know it. Fuck it all! Straight to hell! Why did Maria have to be dead? She may have been the only one to understand the immense amount of bullshark that you are trying to pull. Alone! Ugh! You are doing your best to pull the strings the way that she showed you, but that is some pretty intense shit!

“You die, he dies, the kids die.” You know what's at stake! You know everyone's lives are at stake. “There will be no hope for peace and everything will be dead. I know this isn't a game.” You hear him inhale deeply and breath out slowly.

You think you should do the same but if he hears you, you feel like he would know that you are on the verge of panic and call you on it. “This is life or death and you, Connie, are playing on the wrong side.”

You almost feel like giggling and you aren't sure if it's because you are finally at your breaking point or if it's because you two used to be really close once upon a time and even _he_ can't see through your facade. If he can't, Jack and Scratch sure as hell can't. You feel like fist-pumping the air but decide against it. No point in giving yourself away now.

“I know he's under your spell.”

Curtis? Of course he is under your spell. If he wasn't under your spell and your watch, he'd be under the watch of Noir and Scratch, and, well, you couldn't have the Page of Rage hanging around with just _anyone_.

“That's why he hasn't seen his kid in ages. You think I don't keep track a what you do at that place? I know you think you can win, but if you win and everyone dies, how is that considered a win?”

You shrug. You wonder the same thing yourself now and again. The only profit from Scratch and Noir winning the game is another lost world and another doomed timeline. “There will be nothing left _to_ win. What kind of win is that?” You shrug, yet again, understanding his point fully.

“I don't know what you're talking about, Orpheus,” you answer back sweetly. “Curtis is here of his own volition.” You giggle lightly. “Things are going just as planned and every pawn is in place.” You twirled your finger in your hair, even though he knew he couldn't see you. You wanted to give off the air a stupid teenager. You know that there are video cameras in your office and you're pretty sure that they're frequently monitored. “The kids are still blind as they should be. They won't even know what hit them when the world ends.” You laugh—fakely of course but nobody should be any the wiser. “By the way, _Orphaner_ , have you found him yet?” You are, of course, referring to Caliborn. Doc Scratch says it's imperative that Caliborn is in the custody of Lord English. Why, you have no idea. You had also been under the impression that they were the same person, but from what you gather, that is no longer the case.

“I wouldn't tell you if I have or haven't,” he hisses dangerously.

“Hostile much?” you ask cheerily.

“I have reasons,” he nips back. “I'm not heartless like you.” He laughs hollowly and you don't respond.

You don't know how to respond to that.

He huffs and what follows next is something you never expected to hear. “I haven't found him,” he snarls finally. “I'll cut you a deal,” he tells you and your jaw practically drops.

Was the great Orphaner Dualscar _negotiating_? Now you are sure the end of the world is near.

“If—When I find him, I will turn him over to you.”

Oh gog glubbin' damn, _yes_. Yes he is.

Your eyes widen in excitement. This was exhilarating.

“In return, you let the kids spend time with their families for a month.” You nod. This was sounding good. “I get to spend time with Eridan and Cronus on the ship. I also request time with Kurloz and Gavin—”

“Hold—Hold on.” You gesture for him to stop talking even though you know he can't see you. “Gavin?” you ask him. “What are you, some sort of master-stalker-creeper person?” Gavin doesn't even attend Skaia yet. The paperwork hasn't gone through. You just put it in yesterday. The paperwork doesn't completely go through until Monday or Tuesday. And even if he is accepted, he won't start until Saturday. “How do you... How do you know about him?”

He scoffs. “Yes, Gavin. Didn't you hear me? I keep track of _everything_ that goes on in that place. Now, as I was saying.”

You stare ahead listening to him speak. You were dumbfounded. “But wait... He's not even in yet. None of the paperwork has gone through yet. How...?”

“Seer. Of Hope. You do the math. I'm seeing the hopeful outcome. And as I was saying, it's unfair to them with the Highblood under your control and Gavin's parents refusing to be in his life.”

Maybe your situation wasn't hopeless after all. With his optimism and his constant vigilance, you could pull through this. You'd just have to inform him of the small detail that you are double-crossing the big guns. You just need the help of somebody who's on the outside to help you out a bit.

“You and Feferi and Meenah should go back to Barbados. Betty will get the time off she deserves and spend it with John and Jane. You should ask them to join you on Barbados. Have it be a time for family before the world ends.”

God, you loved his silver tongue. With the right words in the right tones, his tongue had been known to make you melt. You even bore his children and you in no way regretted it. What you did regret was _this_.

“Maybe Jake and Jade can join you as well. You know, island hop for a few weeks and join you guys as well. From what I understand, all the gets get along swimmingly. Family time, as I said.”

“But—,” you start and stop yourself. You're well aware that Scratch and Jack don't know the relation between your children and his and you would like to keep it that way.

“Maybe it'll open your eyes to how bad of an idea listening to Doc Scratch is.”

And maybe, if luck is on your side, he'll stop by with the boys and you can finally explain everything to him in person. Where you won't be monitered. You cross your ankles at that thought.

“Dolly, Jax, and Catty can spend time with Nepeta, Karkat, Hannah, Penny, Meulin, and Kankri. Peter can spend time with Aranea, Vriska, Tavros, and Rufioh. So on and so forth. Summer break should be a time for family. Before the real shark shit begins.”

You completely agreed. That sounded like an amazing idea. You had to make this performance believable though. “And if I decline?” you ask him in an overly-sweet tone. You reach over and grab the glass of water sitting on your desk, taking a swig.

He barks out a laugh, and you cringe. You can't tell if it's a real laugh or if it's forced but either way, it's an awful sound to hear from him. “Then you can say goodbye to seeing Caliborn, dead or alive.”

You cough and sputter, spitting your water out on your desk. You continue to cough and grab a towel to throw over your wet papers. “Fine,” you tell him in a hard tone. God , you had just wanted to know what he would say if you declined. You hadn't wanted to choke. Glub! “One month,” you growl. “No more. The whole facility will close and you can spend time with your precious boys.” You cut the call and continue to clean the mess.

* * *

=====> Be Orphaner Dualscar and have a conversation with Her Imperial Condescension

“Do not undermine my authority, Dualscar,” her Imperial Condescension snarls in your ear.

You chuckle. Oh, that's rich. _She_ thinks she's in charge of _you_? She can go to hell if that's what she thinks. “On the contrary, I'm not undermining anything, your _Imperialness_ ,” you sneer. A hollow laugh breaks out of your chest.

“This isn't a game, Orpheus,” she hisses madly.

You lean forward, resting your elbows on the wheel. You stare forward taking in the view around you. The water is calm and it's relaxing. Complete contrast from the conversation that you are currently having. “No,” you agree, your tone anything but light. “This isn't a game. This is life. Lives are at stake. Our _childrens'_ lives are at stake and you don't seem to give a bullshark's crap about it,” you tell her bluntly, angrily. You don't livid but you feel a slight tremble in your hands. There's the anger, the rage you thought had been dead to you for too long. “I know you think you can win, but if you win, _everyone_ dies. You die, he dies, the kids die. There will be no hope for peace and everything will be dead. I know this isn't a game.” You take a deep breath, centering yourself before you start spouting about no hope and only doom. “This is life or death and you, Connie, are playing on the wrong side. I know he's under your spell. That's why he hasn't seen his kid in ages. You think I don't keep track a what you do at that place? I know you think you can win, but if you win and everyone dies, how is that considered a win? There will be nothing left _to_ win. What kind a win is that?”

“I don't know what you're talking about, Orpheus.” You feel like she's lying through her teeth, but you aren't one hundred percent sure. This is also the woman who you'd thought would be playing on your team the full way. And yet, here you are on opposite sides. “Curtis is here of his own volition. Things are going just as planned and every pawn is in place. The kids are still blind as they should be. They won't even know what hit them when the world ends.” She laughs. “By the way, _Orphaner_ , have you found him yet?”

“I wouldn't tell you if I have or haven't,” you hiss into the phone. It was none of her business if you had found the cherub or not. She didn't need to know shit, English didn't need to know shit. The less they knew, the better.

“Hostile much?” she asks in a fake cheery voice.

“I have reasons,” you say bitingly. “I'm not heartless like you.” You laugh hollowly when she doesn't respond. You huff, thinking fast. This wasn't going to go well or easily, but you need time with your sons before the world ends. “I haven't found him,” you snarl, having decided how you're going to play your cards. “I'll cut you a deal,” you tell her slowly. You close you eyes in disbelief. When the hell did it come to this...? “If—When I find him, I will turn him over to you. In return, you let the kids spend time with their families for a month. I get to spend time with Eridan and Cronus on the ship. I also request time with Kurloz and Gavin—”

“Hold—Hold on,” she sputters, interrupting. “Gavin? What are you, some sort of master-stalker-creeper person?” You grin, sharp teeth exposed.

A white, ghost-looking thing comes floats around you and nudges your free hand. You reach out and pet it and it settles its head in your lap.

“How do you...How do you know about him?”

You scoff, still petting your ghosty friend. “Yes, Gavin. Didn't you hear me? I keep track of _everything_ that goes on in that place.” Your friend flips over on its back and licks your hand. You give it a look, wipe your hand on your slacks, and return to the conversation. “Now, as I was saying.”

“How...?”

“Seer. Of Hope,” you told her. It was obvious. She played the game with you. She should remember that much. “You do the math. I'm seeing the hopeful outcome.” You shake your head. “And as I was saying, it's unfair to them with the Highblood under your control and Gavin's parents refusing to be in his life. You and Feferi and Meenah should go back to Barbados. Betty will get the time off she deserves and spend it with John and Jane. You should ask them to join you on Barbados. Have it be a time for family before the world ends.” You shrug. “Maybe Jake and Jade can join you as well. You know, island hop for a few weeks and join you guys as well. From what I understand, all the gets get along swimmingly. Family time, as I said.”

“But—”

You gaze out at the sea longingly. You'd love to have the boys join as well, but you don't know if that would work out or not. Hopefully speaking, you would love it to though. You continue talking, effectively cutting her off. “Maybe it'll open your eyes to how bad of an idea listening to Doc Scratch really is.” You pause, gazing out at the water where a few more ghosts were flying around together. “Dolly, Jax, and Catty can spend time with Nepeta, Karkat, Hannah, Penny, Meulin, and Kankri. Peter can spend time with Aranea, Vriska, Tavros, and Rufioh. So on and so forth. Summer break should be a time for family. Before the real shark shit begins.”

“And if I decline?” she asks sweetly.

You bark a laugh. “Then you can say goodbye to seeing Caliborn, dead or alive.”

You hear her sputter on the other line and she goes silent. You hear her swallow and you know you closed the deal. “Fine,” she tells you in a hard tone. “One month. No more. The whole facility will close and you can spend time with your precious boys,” she growls and the line dies.

“Hell yes!” you exclaim, fist pumping into the air. She had no idea what she was getting herself into. You look over your shoulder at the kid that was sitting at the table, head phones in, mapping out a timeline. You flick a finger in his direction and the angel flits over to him, giving him a giant lick on his exposed arm.

He whirls and glares at you, removing an earbud. “Sick. Angel slobber.” He does his best to get the mucusy stuff off his arm, which does nothing to help his lever of disgust as it hangs from his fingers like slime. “Ugh, gross. This ectoplasmic goo should be illegal.” He shakes his hand but it does nothing to remove the goo that's on it. “So, is it done?” he asks, a grimmace on his lips as he still tries to remove the angel slobber.

“Set and match!” you exclaim excitedly, feeling hopeful about things for the first time in awhile.

He grins at you widely, setteling for wiping his hand and arm off on a towel you have hanging from the oven that's in the kitchen of your house boat. “And my other pieces are set in play. They applied to Skaia and they got in.”

You watch your angel flit back to you and settle back in your lap after giving him another lick on the arm. “This isn't gonna be easy,” you tell him grimly, thinking about the long run of things. You remember the way Harry used to balance you out when you'd hit a high, thinking nothing could bring you down. He saved your ass quite a few times.

Caliborn gives a look of irritation. He's not the only one unpleased with your grim demeanor. Your angel chomps you on the wrist and you swat it on the nose. It flies off with a hiss and what you think is a glare. “Oh, don't give me that. You're not a Bard or a Prince, or a Doom aspect. Don't do this ghosty thingy on me now. Don't give me that shit.” He glares at you. “Even your angel isn't pleased with you. Geez, you really need to spend time with the Page.”

“I'm just saying, we need to be realistic, not optimistic,” you tell him.

“Wow,” he says, drawing the word out so long, its annoying. “You spent too much time around those boys when they were born.”

You glare at him. “For your information, the Helmsman happened just happens to be my moirail, thank you very much.” You stick your tongue out at him.

“Yeah, I know. Lord of Time, remember,” he says, gesturing to himself. “I know. All four of your boys hung out with each other when they were small kids, not that any of them remember that. I had my Witch of Mind take care of those memories.” He looks at you and his hands go up in defense at the glare your giving him. “It's for good reason. God, don't attack me!” You relax a bit and he continues. “Things still worked out okay. Chill. Things are fine. And might I say... _Eww!!_ I don't need to know who you had sex with in this life! I'm going to rinse my brain in bleach now, thank you very much!” He shudders and glares at you. “Do your _kids_ know?! Do they _know_ they have half-siblings?”

You watch him go and wonder why the hell he was digging around in your head. It's not like you were thinking anything so it isn't as if he was just skimming the top layer of your thoughts. You shake your head. It was a one time thing. A fling. It meant nothing. Hell, it got you your boys.

“Not a one time thing! Three year difference! _Not_ a one time thing!” he yells at you from the bathroom. You wonder how true to his word he's being. It would be amusing if he was trying to bleach his brain. “Yeah, my brain, my arm, and my hand!”

“Get out a my head, ya perv!” you shout back, mildly amused at his gagging noises. Okay fine. Just twice. That was it.

“I'm not in your head!” he shouts back irritably. “I can't help it that your thoughts are that freakin' loud. God damn! You picked up tricks from Captor. Who knew Amporas were psychically inclined?”

“Not me. And she's not so bad. She's just...over the top and wants to take over the world.”

“Yes, she is. Her Imperial Condescension _is_ that bad. And if I remember correctly, so did you, once upon a time.”

“Yeah, yeah. But that was then. When lives weren't at stake. _This_ is now!” You turn the wheel of the ship hard to the right.

You can feel Caliborn's glaring stare through all the obstacles between you and him. “And what do you mean _weren't at stake_?

* * *

=====> Jump forward three weeks and be ~~Cronus~~ Chester.

You come up for air at the edge of the pool and look over your shoulder to see ~~Meenah~~ Mina already swimming back to the other end of the pool. God damn. She reminds you of a fish or a mermaid or something. He dark skin shone in the fluorescent lighting and it made her glow. You know that she's gorgeous but she's way out of your league. You know this. Quite well. But it doesn't matter. You have your eyes on somebody else. Although he's also taken. Which leaves you in a conundrum.

“Chester, you seem to have gotten a message.” You look up to see Jacob. He's crouched by the edge of the pool. “It's from Danny. Would you like me to read it to you?”

Your eyes narrow. What the hell? Why would he be texting you? He hates you. You're sure of it. “Depends vwhat it says,” you answer.

“Ooh! Chess, I bet your getting hate mail from your brother!” Mina is suddenly at your side. You didn't hear her come up. Or feel the water. What the hell? You feel like that's something you should feel, but you're not your father nor are you your brother. She looks up at Kanny—Kobe. What the hell?—with wide eyes. “Yes! Please read that shit out loud! I wanna know what it says!”

Jacob gives her a look which you mirror. “Language, Mina,” he reprimands her. “It's not polite to swear and it may be triggering to others.”

“Yeah, others who aren't here,” she says, waving off his request. “Now read!”

“I refuse to read it to the likes of you. And an FYI, Ms. Peixes, _I_ am triggered by such language.”

You feel high respect for your albino bestie. If she had been speaking like that to you, you may have just slapped her for it. As it is, you shoot her a glare before lifting yourself out of the pool. “Hate mail or not, I still should look at it. Who knows, maybe is a distress message.” You shake your head. “Doubtful, but still.” You dry off a bit and pick up your phone. “Oh, shellfish!” you exclaim. It was something quick you picked up so you weren't swearing around Kobe. You picked up quite enough sea puns from your father.

“What is it?” he asks and you know Mina's ear perk up from wherever she is.

“Alex fainted and Toby's having a panic attack.” You quickly gather your stuff and you're sure Jacob is rounding up stuff you forget in your rush.

“Psssh,” Mina says, still in the pool, waving off the plea. “Doesn't he have his precious girlfriend for that shit?”

You turn and glare her, fed up with complete lack of give-a-shit right now. “Yes, he has Latula. But if you paid attention for more than one cod ray shark, you'd see that he needs more than just her vwhen he goes into an attack. It takes more than just one quadrant to pull him out of that headstate. Not that you give a flying glub about anyone other than yourself, your motherglubbing fishbreath, because all you see vwhen you're wvith yourself is you. So, you knowv! Stay here and drowvn. I don't give a flying glub.” You turn to your left and suddenly you don't see Jacob anymore. You see a creature with gray skin, nub horns, and a bright red sweater. “C'mon Kanny, let's go.”

In retrospect, you have no idea what you actually said to Mina, nor did you really even care. You'd have Jacob explain it to you later. Right now, you just wanted to find Toby and make sure he was all right. You hear shouting from what you know to be the cafeteria.

“He'th dead!” Yep, that was Toby. “He'th dead, he'th dead, he'th dead!”

Shit, that didn't sound good. You pick up your pace and leave Jacob behind. He'd understand. He always does.

You run into cafeteria and see Madeline and Roxy trying their best to comfort Toby, but all he does is push them away.

“Thtop touching...” He made a noise that sounded like a buzz, a hiss, and some slurred word that you couldn't make out. You'd never seen him this bad before, but for some reason this felt really similar to another time. “Kfffzzrt-top touching me!”

You slowly walk toward them. Toby was already in a panic. You didn't want to make it worse. Deer in the headlights. Any sudden movements and the abscond. Or in Toby's case, bite, claw, kick.

“He died and they took him to bury him and krrrrfftt fucking migraine.”

You kneel down next to him and you try to touch him gently which results in a none too pleasant punch to your nose. You fall onto your back and scramble further away from him before attempting to get up.

“Thtay away from me!” He turns to you and hisses. “Thtupid thpade! I don't want you! He'th dead and he'th not coming back!”

Spade? What the heck was a spade? Was he calling you the card suit or the gardening tool. Did he mean hoe? That was a rather amusing thought if that were the case.

“Gog damn it! Why doeth my head hurt?”

You get a closer look at him and you see he's in tears. You remember something about an accident, but that seems like it was ages ago. You don't even remember if anybody told you about an accident he had or if you're just making things up to have things make more sense.

“I can't remember shit! I'm—zzzrrft—fucking thtupid and retarded!”

“No,” you murmur from where you're sitting. It's clear he doesn't want you around but you are gonna try and help anyway. “No, you're not.”

“You're radical,” Madeline tells him. “You're fucking radical, Tuna. You're the most rad person I've ever met.”

He smiles and it has to be the most gorgeous thing that you've ever seen. You love when he smiles even though you're almost never the one to put it there. He inches closer to her and cuddles into her side. “But he'th dead, ithn't he?”

“No, Bumble Bee,” she tells him, wrapping her arm around his shoulders. She gives him a reassuring smile. “He's just resting.”

* * *

=====> Jump back to present time and be Sollux.

You feel like you got hit with a bus. You blink against the penlight that Aranea is shining in your eyes. “What happened?” you groan.

Karkat laughs but it sounds forced. “You passed out on your feet then you vomited. It seemed like it happened in slow motion but you still hit the ground before any of us could move.” You nod to show that you're listening. You glance at Eridan and then glance away again. “I called Danny because I didn't know who else to ask to bring you up here.” You opened your mouth to speak but thought it might be better to hear him out instead. “I would have asked Gavin but I doubted you would want to wake up to him.” Your eyes went wide and you shook your head frantically. “It would probably send you into another fit.”

“Shit, no kidding,” you sass back. “But what about Toby?”

“Your fit sent him into a pretty bad panic attack. Wwhen I wwalked into the cafeteria to help Carter, he wwas mumbling and slurring. It wwas bad. He was hitting Madeline awway. But it's okay. I texted Chester to come help. He's most likely wwith Jacob. And Nichole ran off to find Kharl and Missy. Roxy's wwith him too.”

You look at Eridan—No, that's Danny—and Karkat—Carter? Oh well, same difference. “Having Chethter there may not be a good idea.” Toby has told you about his run of Sgrub and he's also talked about the panic attacks he has now, relating them to his mental state after the accident. Toby also told you bad people to have around during those attacks are Chester and Mina, but you think if Jacob is also around, maybe it won't be so bad. Having Kharl around is a definite positive.

“He'll be okay,” Ariel reassures you with a smile. “Toby's got Madeline and Kharl. Jacob will make sure Chester doesn't get out of hand,” Ariel assures you. You're not sure if she is Ariel or Aranea, but you don't care. As long as she isn't up to any tricks like Mindfang, you feel like you can trust her.

“Besides, I figured having Danny here when you woke up would be a good idea. You know, since you were asking about him before you collapsed again.” Carter gives you a subtle wink and you pale.

Yes, you had been asking about him but it was because you were still highly disassociating and you wanted to make sure he wasn't dead and hadn't done anything stupid and that something stupid wasn't done to him. It didn't mean that you actually wanted to see him! You want to punch Carter in the gut right now but you don't want questions from Ariel or Danny. God damn it!

“You wwere askin' 'bout me?” Danny asks. There is something about his tone that you can't put a finger on. You can't tell if he sounded hopeful, shy, or curious.

You flush. “I had a nightmare and a shit ton of bad thingth happened.” You weren't sure if you should glare at Carter or what, so you don't do anything besides continue explaining. “People died and shit like that.” You glance at Danny, face still flushed. Whether it was from anger at Carter, stupidity, or embarrassment, you weren't sure. “I wath jutht being a good perthon and making thure you were okay becauthe I didn't thee you in the cafeteria.”

Danny chuckles. “You wwere wworried 'bout me.” He glances at you and smiles. Your insides turn and twist. The light in his eyes when he does that is unbelievable. You've never seen that before. Definitely not from Eridan. Not in the game anyway. The most you got from him was a smirk that made you want to ring his pompous neck. But, maybe in a different light. “You do care.”

You huffed and felt yourself flush down your neck. Your ears burned too. “I do not,” you told him clearly. “I jutht didn't want _your_ blood on _my_ hands.” You hear Carter mutter something under his breath. You turn and hiss at him violently. “Am not. Do **not** thay that again.” You feel hot energy in your eyes, an electric spark jumps between your middle and ring fingers. The feeling surprises you. You were pretty sure you don't have your psionics anymore but the familiar feeling doesn't detere the rage that's built up inside of you.

“Sollux,” Ariel—Aranea?—says in a warning tone, placing a hand on your shoulder. “Stop. If not for Karkat and Eridan, then stop for Aradia.” She studies you closely and backs off. You can feel Danny's eyes flicking back between you and her.

You have no time to say anything before another person enters the library. “Hey, Danny!”

“Aaron,” he grumbles, but stands up anyway. “Wwhat, Chester?” You can tell he's not amused with anything at all and for a moment you feel a pang of sadness for him. “Wwhat do you wwant?”

“Not what I vwant, Danny-boy!” his brother shouts and 'Danny-boy' looks like he wants to murder someone. Namely the idiot greaser someone who doesn't know how to be quiet. “It's vwhat Dad wvants!”

“Oh, yippee,” he monotones, walking to the front. “Wwhat does our dear loving gracious father wwant noww?” he asks monotonously, tone dripping with sarcasm.

“Betty just announced that she's givwing everyone a month out of here to be with their families. Place is gonna be closed for a month.” Chester's smile was really wide.

Carter quirks an eyebrow. “And what about those who don't have families who will take them?” he asks. You wonder that too. You know there are quite a few here who are better off not going home to their family or just flat-out don't have a family to get back to.

“Said she made arrangements for them too. Like, uh—Vwhat's his name? The tall one Ruh's brother hangs out vwith?”

“Gam—Gavin?” Carter asks quickly, tripping over the two names.

“Yeah, him.” He's still smiling and something about it makes you uneasy. “He's comin' vwith me and Danny.”

Your stomach drops. Danny is going to be alone with Chester and Gavin? Danny and Chester don't bother you because they're brothers but Gavin? You feel like you could be sick again. Shit, shit, shit. Not good. Definitely not good.

Danny groans irritably. “Aaron. And for the love of God, if you tell me Vvivvian and Mina are joining us I'm going to strangle Mina wwith her hair. Danny-bouy is not going to fly for a wwhole month if I have you calling me Danny-boy, too!”

Chester laughs. “Don't vworry so much! And not just Gavwin, Danny-boy, Kharl is coming too!”

“Oh thank god,” he says in a relieved tone. “Somebody quiet.”

You watch them leave and try not to have a full-on panic attack before following them out and down the stairs.

* * *

=====> Rewind scene, switch points of view, and be Danny

You sit in one of the beanbag chairs in the back of the library with Carter. You can't help it that you keep glancing at Alex. You're a bit worried. As much as he annoys you, you don't wish him dead. You rather respect him in a way but you would never tell him that. You know that you're not the only one worried about him. Ariel on her knees beside him, checking his eyes with a pen light.

You hear him groan quietly. He sounded like a mess. “What happened?” he groans.

Carter laughs. It sounds hollow and forced. “You passed out on your feet then you vomited. It seemed like it happened in slow motion but you still the ground before any of us could move.” Your cringe. You're almost thankful you hadn't been there for that. Alex glances at you and then he glances away again. “I called Danny because I didn't know who else to ask to bring you up here,” Carter says, answering the unasked question that you are sure was in that glance. You see Alex open his mouthh, then close it again. “I would have asked Gavin but I doubted you would want to wake up to him.” His eyes go wide and he frantically shakes his head. “It would probably send you into another fit.”

“Shit, no kidding,” he sasses back. “But what about Toby?”

“Your fit sent him into a pretty bad panic attack. Wwhen I wwalked into the cafeteria to help Carter, he wwas mumbling and slurring. It wwas bad. He was hitting Madeline awway. But it's okay. I texted Chester to come help. He's most likely wwith Jacob. And Nichole ran off to find Kharl and Missy. Roxy's wwith him too.”

He looks at you and Carter. “Having Chethter there may not be a good idea.”

You don't know why that would be. Chester can be a pain, but when it comes to his friends, he means well. You don't like him much, if at all, but you do know that his heart is in the right place.

“He'll be okay,” Ariel tells him with a smile. “Toby's got Madeline and Kharl. Jacob will make sure Chester doesn't get too out of hand,” she tells him gently.

“Besides, I figured having Danny here when you woke up would be a good idea. You know, since you were asking about him before you collapsed again.”

Alex pales and you don't know why. Maybe he's nervous for whatever reason. It is true that you two didn't really know much about each other. Maybe he thinks it's weird for him to be worried about you. Or maybe he really doesn't want to be worried about you and is anyway. Whatever.

You lean forward a bit, curious. “You wwere askin' 'bout me?” You can't keep the bit of hope you have out of your voice.

He flushes and you find it kind of cute. He may be annoying and his lisp can get on your nerves a lot, but you find his pink face rather endearing for whatever reason. “I had a nightmare and a shit ton of bad thingth happened. People died and shit like that.” He glances at you, his face still red. You're pretty sure he's angry at Carter for saying that he was asking about you but you find it rather endearing that he asked about you. “I wath jutht being a good perthon and making thure you were okay becauthe I didn't thee you in the cafeteria.”

You chuckle. “You wwere wworried 'bout me,” you tease good-naturedly. You glance at him and smile to let him know you don't mean him any harm. “You do care.”

He huffs and you can see the flush rising. His ears were tinged pink as well. “I do not,” he tells you in a hard tone. “I jutht didn't want _your_ blood on _my_ hands.” You hear Carter mumble something but you can't really make out what he said. “Am not,” Alex hisses. “Do **not** thay that again.” You stare at him, the hair on the back of your neck standing on end. His eyes are glowing red and blue. Not just the irises either. One whole eye is red and the other is completely blue. You can faintly see his green and blue irises behind the light, but fuck. _What the fuck!_ You know he's angry but you have no idea what he's doing with his eyes.

“Sollux,” Ariel says in a warning tone, placing a hand on his shoulder. Who? “Stop,” she tells Alex sternly. “If not for Karkat and Eridan, then stop for Aradia.” Who, who, and who?

Your eyes flicker between the two of them, trying to make out what the hell was going on when an annoying voice grabs your attention.

“Hey, Danny!”

“Aaron,” you correct him. You stand up, rubbing your temples. God, you were already getting a migraine. “Wwhat Chester?” You are not amused with your brother and right now, no matter how much you don't believe in magic, you wish you had a wand. It worked with Harry and Dudley. Why couldn't it work with you two? “Wwhat do you wwant?”

“Not what I vwant, Danny-boy!” Chester yells obnoxiously loud. You want to murder him so he will shut up and leave you alone. “It's vwhat Dad wvants!”

You continue to rub your temples. Oh for the love of God, make the obnoxious sound that is coming out of his mouth stop. You didn't want to see him, you didn't want to see your father. And what in God's glorious name would he want anyway? “Oh, yippee,” you say monotonously. You were in no mood for bullshit right now. “Wwhat does our dear loving gracious father wwant noww?” you asks monotonously. You hop your tone is dripping with sarcasm.

“Betty just announced that she's givwing everyone a month out of here to be with their families. Place is gonna be closed for a month.” Chester's smile was really wide.

 _Oh, just kill me noww. Kill me noww wwith a fucking chainsaww._ The last thing you wanted was to spend _more_ time with your aggravating greaser brother.

“And what about those who don't have families who will take them?” Carter asks.

“Said she made arrangements for them too. Like, uh—Vwhat's his name? The tall one Ruh's brother hangs out vwith?”

“Gam—Gavin?” Carter asks quickly, tripping over his words.

“Yeah, him.” Chester is still smiling widely and you just wish you could punch it off his smug fucking face. “He's comin' vwith me and Danny.”

You groan in aggravation. “Aaron,” you correct him for the second time in five minutes. “And for the love of God, if you tell me Vvivvian and Mina are joining us I'm going to strangle Mina wwith her hair.” Fuck it all to hell. None of this was going to fly. “Danny-bouy is not going to fly for a wwhole month if I have you calling me Danny-boy, too!” No, no, no. You had it up to your damned purple streak with your brother's antics as it was. There was no way you going to survive him, the tall one, _and_ the girls. For the love of god, _no_!

Chester laughs. Don't vworry so much! And not just Gavwin, Danny-boy, Kharl is coming too!”

“Oh thank god,” you says in a relieved tone. “Somebody quiet.” You walk with him out of the library. “Is Dad actually here? And for _the lovve of god_ **Aaron**!”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let's hope Danny hasn't killed Chester by the end of this trip. Because if Chester keeps calling him "Danny-Boy" he just might. Part one of the month of summer will be posted next week!! Woo-hoo!! ^^
> 
> And again, sorry (not really) for changing a few classpect details. I have my reasons to do so.


	7. Thus Begins the Month of Hell

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In which Sollux gets a frightening message from Aradia, has a panic attack, finds out that things are actually okay, Aradia takes his mind off of it, and sings a duet with him. We learn about more OCs and a few other things needed for the plot. The boys are slightly too loud which leads to Karkat throwing a pillow and he , Sollux, and Mituna get lectured by Kankri. And Sollux has a nightmare.
> 
> Also, very minor twincest between Sollux and Mituna but that's only as a comfort thing because Mituna still can't shake the feeling that he's going to lose his brother somehow. For those of you who are twins or know twins, that's a bond that runs very deep and sometimes when one twin loses the other, they lose the ability to function because the depression is just that bad. So, there are some sweet moments between the two.

=====> Be mysterious

**twinArmageddons [TA] began pestering  apocalypseArisen [AA] at 4:08 AM**

** TA: aa **  
**TA: aa?**  
**TA: aa II need help**  
**TA: II almo2t ju2t blew KK and ED up wiith my miind**  
**TA: aa**  
**TA: My power2 are back**  
**AA: the game has begun**  
**TA: Plea2e tell me youre beeiing iironiic**  
**AA: N0**  
**TA: AA could you plea2e bee a liittle le22 cryptiic?**  
**AA: I d0nt think I can s0llux**  
**TA: AA the la2t tiime you were thii2 cryptiic you were dead**  
**AA: n0t yet**  
**TA: Not yet??**  
**AA: at least n0t in y0ur frame 0f time**  
**TA: You diie?**  
**AA: yes**  
**TA: How do we stop iit?**  
**AA: y0u d0nt**

**apocalypseArisen [AA] has disconnected at 4:09 AM**

You look sit in the rain, looking at the headstone before you.

 _Aradia:_  
_Friend, lover, daughter, sister_  
_She will be deeply missed_

* * *

=====> Bee Sollux. Right now you are in the car with your parents and Toby. You are on your way home. On the way, you decide to message Aradia.

**twinArmageddons [TA] began pestering  apocalypseArisen [AA] at 2:08 PM**

**TA: aa**  
**TA: aa?**  
**TA: aa II need help**

You are on the verge of panic. You feel like you could be sick at any moment but decide to ignore it.

**TA: II almo2t ju2t blew KK and ED up wiith my miind**  
**TA: aa**  
**TA: My power2 are back**

When the hell had that happened? Yeah, you passed out every now and then but that was just from visions or dreams or... Memories? Fuck! You didn't know.

They could have been caused by anything. Just because you were lucid and aware meant nothing.

You weren't getting your abilities back.

No.

No.

No.

You refused to believe there was any connection with the ~~visions~~ things you were seeing and your psychic abilities surfacing again.

** AA: the game has begun **

You stare at her response and hope she is being ironic, not cryptic. You know that she spent some time with Dave, talking about _things_. She had never told you, said she was sworn to secrecy.

**TA: Plea2e tell me youre beeiing iironiic**  
**AA: N0**

Shit!

**TA: AA could you plea2e bee a liittle le22 cryptiic?**  
**AA: I d0nt think I can s0llux**  
**TA: AA the la2t tiime you were thii2 cryptiic you were dead**

Please don't be, please don't be, please don't be.

**AA: n0t yet**  
**TA: *Not yet??***  
**AA: at least n0t in y0ur frame 0f time**

You feel sicker. You quickly roll down your window, terrified something _will_ come up.

You respond quickly.

** TA: You diie? **

And her response is almost immediate.

**AA: yes**  
**TA: How do we stop iit?**  
**AA: y0u d0nt**

**apocalypseArisen [AA] has disconnected at 2:09 PM**

When she disconnects, you feel instantly hot and immidiately cold and clammy right after. Fuck, fuck, fuck!!!! What the fuck are you supposed to do??

Fuck! There it is.

You immediately hang out the window, letting loose whatever was left in your stomach. It wasn't too much since you skipped lunch, but that wasn't the point.

You slowly lowered yourself back into the car. Toby was staring at you and he wasn't the only one. “I'm...fine,” you mutter slowly. “Jutht... Can you drop me off at Carter'th houthe? I have all my clotheth in my bag. I'll...be home tomorrow or thomething.” You catch your mom's eye and she looks totally worried. “I need to talk to KK about thomething. It'th game related and it'th fucking thcaring me.” Your focus jumps to Toby. “Tuna, it involveth AA. I...” You sniffle and lightly bash your head into his chest. “I think she'th dead.” The tears had built up and the dam broke.

* * *

=====> Bee Toby

Your eyes flicker between your phone and your younger twin when he rolls down the window. You see how pale he looks and it worries you. Your eyes go wide and your attention is completely pulled away from your phone when he lunges out the window. He vomits and you're suddenly terrified.

You know weren't lucid after Alex fainted and you can't shake the feeling of impending doom. Is this the beginning? Is he dying? Shit, shit, shit.

You watch him slowly pull himself into the window and form a quick glance you see your mom turned around in the front passenger's seat and your dad is glancing in the rear view mirror to make sure he's okay.

“I'm fine” he mutters slowly. His voice sounds broken and like he may start crying at any moment. “Jutht...” He breaks off with a sniffle. “Can you drop me off at Carter'th houthe? I have all my clotheth in my bag.” Why was he using Karkat's human name? Something felt off but you don't push it. “I'll...” He glances around, “be home tomorrow or thomething.”

You catch the worried look that your mom is giving him. She can feel it too then.

“I need to talk to KK about thomething.” He ducks his head, avoiding her gaze. “It'th game related and it'th fucking thcaring me.”

His gaze jumps to you. “Tuna, it involveth AA. I...” He sniffles and you know what's coming next. He bashes his head into your chest and your so glad that he doesn't have horns. You wrap your arms around him and pull him closer. “I think she'th dead.” He wraps his arms around you and grips your shirt, hiding his face in your bumble bee shirt.

You glance at your mom and she already has her iPad out. She must be messaging somebody. Most likely Jax, Carter's father, to let him know that there will be a house guest.

“I wanna go too,” you say. “Thollukth shouldn't be alone like thith.”

Or two.

* * *

=====> Be Karkat

You hold up your hands and irritably close your eyes, hoping to cease the incessant babbling of your friend. “Stop, stop, stop, stop.” You open your eyes. “Start at the beginning.” You glance between Sollux and Mituna. “One at at time _preferably_.”

Sollux groans and flops down on the bed. “What do you want to know? Between flashbackth and memorieth and theeing Meenah ath the Condethe—”

You throw him a startled look and flail your arms. “Whoa, whoa! What??”

“When you guyth thtopped me from going to break up FF and ED. When I dithothiated.”

“You mean when I was petting you and then you totally flipped out? _That's_ what you were seeing?” you ask loudly.

He shrugs. “I don't remember mostly. I just remember seeing her and he fucking long horns and her mass of hair and her freaking trident.” He quirks an eyebrow at you. “Wait, _that's_ why you were petting me?”

You don't have time to respond before your computer starts ringing. You glance over and see that you are getting a call. You quirk your eyebrow. From who? You walk over. “Sollux, it's Aradia.”

“AA?” He gives you a confused look. “How?”

You shrug. “I don't know. Just come over here and answer it. You were freaking out about her earlier. Now you can see for yourself that she isn't truly dead.”

* * *

=====> Be Aradia. It's 6:00 AM and you are currently asleep.

You feel somebody shaking you and you reach out to push them away and you end up hitting them in the face. You groggily open your eyes and find yourself face to face with your sister. “Ju-Ju, wazzit?” you mumble groggily.

She replies to you in rapid Japanese and you try to follow along but her rapid fire speech and your tired ears don't cooperate quite right. Two words you caught were “Alex” and “died”. Now you're awake.

You look at her with wide eyes after she finishes. “Either you just told me that Sollux thinks I'm dead or you just told me Sollux died.” Either way, you find yourself jumping out of bed and calling him on Pesterchum. When he doesn't pick up, you immediately call Karkat. He's sure to know about your Honey Bee's whereabouts.

* * *

=====> Be Sollux

Your irritation at being petted quickly dissolves into confusion when Karkat tells you that it's Aradia calling. “AA?” You sit up and give him a confused look. “How?” In previous messages she had said she was dead. What the heck? None of this made sense to you. Not much of it had in the first place.

He shrugs. “I don't know. Just come over here and answer it. You were freaking out about her earlier. Now you can see for yourself that she isn't truly dead.”

You shrug, not really sure what to expect. You walk over and sit down in Karkat's computer chair and answer the video call.

You are met with a very disheveled Amber who looks like she just rolled out of bed. Her wavy brown hair is fluffed up on one-side, possibly the side she slept on that night and her whole demeanor just looks tired. Her eyes light up upon seeing you though. A wide grin cracks across your face. “AA, you're okay! I thought you had died!”

“You look like you just woke up,” Karkat points out, ducking into the frame. “What time is it there?”

“Sollux! Mituna! Karkat! Oh my gosh, hi,” she says quickly, smiling widely. “And yeah, I did. It's six in the morning, but no worries. Ju-Ju woke me up and told me it was urgent. I wasn't able to translate anything she said because it was fast and I was still waking up, but I caught the words _Alex_ and _died_.” Her eyes quickly scan you and you knew she is making sure that you are okay. “I tried to call you on Pesterchum first but it just rang so I called Karkat to see if he knew what was going on.”

You quickly remove your phone and open up Pesterchum. “No callth went through, AA.”

“Weird,” Mituna says from the bed. “Thollux, show her your latht Pethterlog.”

“I'd rather not,” you mutter, face feeling hot. It's obvious that the girl in front of you isn't dead. “It wath probably some prank or thomething from thomeone.”

“Yes, so that's why you came over here to freak out to me. Nothing. On top of the other nothings going on. Yep. That's totally the reason you came over. To say that the conversation with Amber was just a prank. Uh-huh.” Karkat snatches the phone out of your hand and pulls up the log for you then he hands it back to you.

“What? What is it? Sollux, talk to me.” You can hear the worry in Aradia's voice.

“I... It'th...” You could feel the tears welling up again while you stare pulled up conversation. You glance back at the screen, pulling your legs to your chest. You didn't want to do this right now. You didn't want to know that this was real. You didn't want to know that this was something that was actually going to happen. Fuck that. “You die, AA,” you tell her quietly.

“What?” she asks you softly.

You wipe the tears away and grimace.“I—I'm gonna thend thith log to Carter and then thend it to you tho you can read it yourthelf.” You do that and wait a moment while she reads over the log. “Tho?”

* * *

=====> Be Aradia

You read the log Sollux sends and your insides suddenly clench up. Oh no. This is the real deal. You recognize your dreary lacking voice anywhere. This isn't a joke. This is a big deal and you suddenly don't know what to do.

You open a chat log with Davesprite.

ApocalypseArisen [AA] started pestering turntechGodhead [TG] at 6:05 AM

AA: Dave we have a pr0blem  
AA: It's seri0us  
AA: S0llux kn0ws I die  
AA: I need t0 st0p him fr0m freaking out

“Tho?” he asks and you can hear that he's on the brink of breaking. You want to wrap your arms around him in a hug and reassure him that things will be all right. You know they will be, because things are going to go as they should. Third time's the charm, right?

Speaking of charms, you finger the one around your neck. This time you have a lucky charm. Things are bound to go as they should this time. _This_ won't be a doomed timeline. You'll be damned before you let that happen again.

TG: You need to distract him Aradia. I know it's hard but it needs to happen. In order for us to win, your death HAS to happen.  
AA: I kn0w but...  
TG: It *HAS* to happen

You gaze at Sollux lovingly but with a serious gleam in your eye. “Honey Bee, I'm right here. No matter what happens, you won't lose me.” You swallow down tears of your own that you feel. “Because, not only am I right here and you can talk to me whenever, but I'm also,” you cross your hands over your heart, “right here.”

The corners of his mouth tug upward a bit. “Alwayth?” he asks. You can hear the hopefulness in his voice.

You smile back. “Always,” you say with a wide smile. You feel guilty but at the same time, you know that you aren't lying to him. Like Li'l Hal said, it has to happen. When this is all over you know that you'll all be the gods of your own universe.

“Promise?” he asks playfully and you know the crisis has been averted. As long as it isn't brought up again.

“Promise,” you repeat with a smile as another message from Davesprite pops up.

TG: Did it work?  
AA: It w0rked  
AA: Thanks  
AA: 0u0

apocalypseArisen [AA] ceased pestering turntechGodhead [TG] at 6:10 AM

You hit play on the song that you had forgotten about and _Honey and the Bee_ by Owl City starts coming out of your speakers.

** Don't remind me / That thome dayth I'm a windshield / And other dayth I'm jutht a lucky bug **

You smile, hearing Sollux sing. You love hearing him sing with his lisp.

** Ath cold iron railth leave / Old mothy trailth through the countrythide **

You remember when he wouldn't sing around you at all. He was so self-conscious about when he first met you and now he was so relaxed. You love it and you miss him so much right now.

** The crow and the bean field **

He turns around and looks Karkat and Mituna before turning back around to you with a grin.

** Are my betht friendth but / Boy, I need a hug **

You echo him with a warm smile.

** Boy, I need a hug **

He smiles warmly in return.

 **Cause my heart stopth without you / There'th thomethin' about you / That maketh me feel alive** // **If the green left the grath on the other thide**

** I would make like a tree and leave **

** But if I reached for your hand / Would your eyeth get wide? **

**Who knew the other side could be so green?** // **Don't remind me / I'm a chickadee in love with the sky**

You gaze around the group with a smile.

** But that's clearly not a lot to crow about **

You smile.

** Cause when the stars silhouette me / I'm scared they'll forget me / And flicker out **

You raise a hand to the screen and Sollux mirrors the action, placing his palm over yours. You put your hand back down after a moment.

** I taste honey but I haven't seen the hive **

You giggle.

** Yeah I didn't look, I didn't even try / But still my heart stops without you / 'Cause there's something about you / That makes me feel alive **

You felt tears in your eyes and you're glad that it's his turn for a moment.

** If the green left the grath on the other thide **

** I would make like a tree and leave **

** But if I reached for your hand / Would your eyeth get wide? **

**Who knew the other side could be so green? **

** We are honey and the bee **

You blink and the tears spill over. You smile so he knows you're not sad. No, these are happy tears.

 _I love you_ he mouths and your smile widens.

You wipe your eyes and quickly recompose yourself.

** Backyard of butterflieth thurrounded me **

** I fell in love with you / Like bees to honey **

** So let'th up / And leave the weeping to the willow tree **

You grin at him.

** And pour our tears in the sea **

That line made you think of Danny and Vivian. You wonder how they are doing.

** I thwear there'th a lot of vegetableth out there / That crop up for air / Yeah I never thought / We were two peath in a pod / Until you thuddenly bloomed / Then I knew / That I'd alwayth love you **

He smiled at you wide, teeth exposed.

** Oh, I'll always love you too **

You smiled widely right back.

** If the green left the grath on the other thide **

He glanced at the screen awkwardly. You could tell he was suddenly feeling self-conscious about lisp. Your smile didn't falter as you sang your next line. In fact, it got wider and you lift your hand to the screen again.

** I would make like a tree and leave **

He mirrors the motion.

** But if I reached for your hand / Would your eyeth get wide? **

You smile, not lowering your hand this time.

** Who knew the other side could be so green? **

** If the green left the grath on the other thide **

** I would make like a tree and leave **

** But if I reached for your hand / Would your eyeth get wide? **

** Who knew the other side could be so green? **

** And if I reached for your hand / For the retht of my life **

** Who knew the other side could be so green? **

“I love you, Sollux,” you tell him with a big smile. “So much.” You can hear the tears in your voice. “Please, whatever happens, please, don't do anything rash. If something _does_ happen to me, we'll see each other again.” You search his heterochromatic eyes.

He nods, his eyes not leaving yours.

“That isn't wishful thinking. That's a fact. And please don't forget that. _No matter what_ , I am _**always**_ with you. **That** is never going to change.” You glance at Karkat and Mituna. “Keep an eye on him for me, okay, boys? This one is special.” You smile.

“Aye aye, captain,” Mituna replies with a goofy salute.

“I boop you on the nose,” you giggle to Sollux. You gaze deeply into his eyes. “And I know that your not special just to me.” You gaze at all three of them. “You guys need to watch out for each other.” You gaze at the trio. “I know I'm not there right now and so somebody needs to take over my job.”

“Yeah,” Karkat says, walking closer to the screen. “Tell _him_ that.” He jabs his thumb at Sollux. “Also, can you tell him to give Danny a chance? He's not taking my word that he isn't Eridan.”

You giggle. “Oh, he's Eridan all right.” You smile at Karkat. “There's no mistaking that. The timeline you know him from though isn't the _only_ timeline he's been in.”

Sollux's ears perk up at that. “What do you mean?” he asks curiously.

“Well, I've been remembering more past lives than just the last one. You see, this isn't the first life that I've met Kankri or Porrim in.” You smile. “Gamzee was also there and so was Aranea.”

“What?” Karkat asks. “What the fuck? Explain please.”

“I'm gonna call Aranea,” you tell them. “You guys don't mind a group chat, do you?”

“Ath long ath you don't call Vrithka,” both Sollux and Mituna tell you.

You look between the twins. “I see you both had bad experiences with her.”

“I'd rather not talk about it,” Mituna grumbles.

* * *

=====> Be a Sylph of Mind

Who are you? You are female, 19 years of age, and still in your room at Skaia, packing up. You share the room with Jade who, coincidentally, just walked in.

“Oh!!” she says in surprise. “Mindy, hi.” She gives you a wide smile. “Would you like a lift home? Jake and I are just headed out now. We finally got all of our stuff together.”

You quirk and eyebrow at her. “Do you even know where I live?” you ask. You don't mean to be rude, but Hawaii was pretty far away. _You_ weren't even sure how you'd be getting home. You wish you'd have had prior warning to being released, but you weren't. Way to think ahead of time, Skaia. You know how to fuck everybody over, don't'cha?

“Yeah!! You live in Hawaii!! We don't live far from there. We'll give you a lift home.”

“Okay, thanks,” you say with a smile. You are so confused as to how this is going to work, but you don't question it. “When are you guys going?”

“Whenever you're ready!!” She gives you a gigantic smile and you are so confused as to how she can be so perky all the time.

You finish closing your bag and turn to Jade. You are still completely confused but you have come to believer that it's best to just nod and agree when she gets an idea. “What kind of transportation are we using.”

“You'll see!” she says with a wide smile.

* * *

=====> Be Mindy's cousin

You're on your bed, sketching in your sketch book. You glance at your computer to see that you don't have any annoying messages from anybody. You don't like being distracted from your drawings when you're in a certain zone and right now you are in that zone.

You look back down at your drawing. Right now you are putting the finishing touches on a picture of a boy being held to the wall telekinetically. You finish adding sparks to the hands of the guy who's holding the first boy to the wall. One hand is covered in red crackling sparks and the second hand is covered in blue crackling sparks. They have gray skin and horns and you don't exactly know what you're drawing but you're pretty sure you saw this in a dream or a vision or something. Drawing things out helps you remember what you dreamed the night before.

Seconds later, your bedroom door is thrown open and a squeal interrupts your concentration—Which you wouldn't have minded if you hadn't just jumped about a foot. You look back at your drawing in annoyance. There is now a thick red line of colored pencil across your whole drawing. You huff irritably but set it aside.

Oh well. It wasn't the best drawing. You needed to work on getting better anyway. Your drawing skills are comparable to Namine's, in which they look like a gradeschooler's art project. You are quite willing to admit that.

“Mindy?” you ask, surprised, picking your glasses off of your sketchbook where they fell. “What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be in Skaia?”

“Nope!” she says, giving you a wide smile. “The place is closed for a month. Nobody was given any notice.”

“How did you get here?” you ask in wonder. “How was the trip?”

“Quick,” she replies without missing a beat. “And you believe me if I told you.”

“Oh? And how quick is quick?” You only ask because Skaia is located in Ohio and you live in Hawaii.

She her bag down and practically attacks your bed by jumping on it. “You remember that game that we both remember playing but at the same time have never ever seen a copy of in this world?”

You narrow your eyes in confusion. “Yeah,” you reply hesitantly.

“Turns out it wasn't just in our heads. There are others out there who know about it too.”

“Well, there's Gemma,” you point out, referring to your online friend who is constantly changing her screen name and quirk.

“There are more too. Turns out there's a lot of people at Skaia who know too. Two of the nurses brought me here.”

You raise an eyebrow. “When were you let out?” you ask, semi-curious, but more digging for information.

“Today,” she tells you. After a moment of silence, she speaks again. “You don't believe me at all. I know. I can _feel_ you digging.” She laughs breathily. “You know those tattoos we have?” she asks, holding out her left wrist.

“Yeah.” You hold out your right wrist. You both have matching tattoos and you don't know why but you know that it's attached to the game You are both Mind aspects. You are a Witch of Mind and she is a Sylph of Mind.

“Both of the nurses have them too. Jade, a Space aspect, had her tattoo in the same place yours is.”

“Let me guess,” you say condescendingly. “The other nurse had his the same place you have yours?” you ask in snide tone.

“No, actually.” She narrows her eyes at you. “How did you know the second nurse was a male?”

You shrug in irritation. “I don't know! I just felt it or read it or something! How should I know?” You only yell and lash out when you're confused and feel like your the only logical person around.

“Shhh,” she says, gently running her fingertips down your face.

You nip at them when they pass your mouth. “I'm not a baby!” you snap. “I just don't get how this actually possible.” You cross your arms over your chest. “Are you _sure_ this isn't some kind of trap set up by the mental facility?”

“Why would a mental facility set up a mind trap?” she asks you logically.

You throw your hands up. “Hell if I know!” They fall back down.

“If it makes you feel any better, he had a Hope aspect tattoo on his upper right arm. It was up near his shoulder.” You roll your eyes, but let her continue because you know she isn't done. “Also, yes. I'm _positive_ this isn't a trap set up by the facility. You want to know how I know?” she asks you. You roll your eyes with a slight nod, knowing that she will continue anyway, even if you don't want her to. “After Jade asked me if I had a way home, we got to talking. She saw my tat and got excited. She showed me hers, made Jake show me his. We get outside, right? There's no car. Jade is the one locking the place up and then when I ask how we're getting home, Jake takes my left hand, Jade takes my right, they take each others. Then we close our eyes and Jake asks me think about where I want to go and _hope_ for it. Like, _hope_ to be there—Here. And voila!”

“So...” You hold out the word, showing your lack of belief. “Like Peter Pan? Hope, trust, and pixie dust?” you ask, skeptical.

She nods excitedly. “Pretty much!”

“Okay then.” You give her a nervous glance. God, she sounded like a whack-a-doo.

“You still don't believe me,” she laughed, calling you out. “That's it. They gave me their chumhandles. “We're gonna message them. They did warn me that they may not get any messages until later in the month because they probably wouldn't have internet access until later on in the month, but I'm telling them about your complete lack of belief right now.”

You roll your eyes. “Whatever. Have at.” You wave your hand at your laptop and pick your sketchbook back up.

“Oh neat! Have you been drawing more?” she asks, snatching it out of your hands.

“Dammit, Mindy,” you mutter as she flips through it. “You're a nosy little gremlin, you know.”

She gives you a wide smile and a thumbs up. “And proud of it! You're too introverted for your own good.” She looks you in the eye. “You know?”

“No,” you grumble. “I'm not. I just don't like dealing with people like you on a daily basis.”

“Oh! This is neat!”

You glance at the page she's on and you shrug. It wasn't really the best, though it was more detail oriented than some of the others. It was a living room scene. Two arm chairs, one was occupied by the same creature you had been drawing previously—with gray skin and four horns, dual colored eyes. He was peeking through the blinds into a rainy night. You left the blinds there intentionally because you hate drawing backgrounds and glass panes. There's a coat rack in the corner that has a fedora hanging on it and a whip that really reminds you of Indiana Jones. You don't know why, but it felt right drawing those things there.

“Just a random inspiration. I don't know why I decided to draw that, but I did.”

“It's really neat.” She flips a few more pages and you see a group picture of twelve people. “Whoa,” she breathes. “This is so cool. You really have a talent.”

She must be joking. You don't see it.

* * *

=====> Be Aranea

You are sitting at your computer when it rings. You smile to see that it's Aradia calling you. You had been wondering how she was doing but between working in the library and keeping an eye on other things, you hadn't really found a good time to call her that wasn't messing with her schedule.

You are curious as to why she's calling you now though since it is a little past six in the morning her time. You answer the call. “Hi Aradia!” You also see that the screen is split. “Hey guys!” You smile widely. “What's up?”

“You knew Sollux and Eridan in a past life?” Karkat asks you in his typical loud, pushy manner.

You nod. “Yes, Aradia and Feferi were also there. So was Latula. And...” You glance away, looking down in your lap. “Gamzee too,” you say quietly.

“Okay, what the hell happened?” Karkat snarls.

You look up and his eyes are narrowed at you.

“What the fuck did that fuckass do?” he growls.

You see that Sollux has a look of intense concentration on his face. His eyes are closed and you can tell he's thinking hard. “Killed,” he says. “He killed...” He trails off, thinking.

Karkat growls. “I'm gonna kill him!”

“Who _did_ he kill?” Sollux asks you. His eyes are open again and he's staring at you.

“Well, first, let me tell you how some of the quadrants were laid out. If I do that, it should help you understand some things about Eridan,” you tell them.

“It may also help you with some of the things you've been seeing, Sollux,” Aradia chimes in. “Memories that don't make sense to you.”

“Like Latula,” he says, eyes full of understanding.

“What about Latula?” Mituna asks his twin.

“She wath part of my quadranth,” he replies. “But it wath confuthing.” He shrugs. “She wath my kithmethith. I think.”

“Something like that,” you reply.

“Aranea and I were pale for each other,” Aradia says happily.

“Right,” you confirm. “Eridan and I were in a flushed relationship.”

“That'th why he wath over that night,” Sollux says to himself.

“What was going on in the memory?” you inquire.

“Gamthee wath there. Latula, Tavroth, and Eridan were in the kitchen. The three of us had been in the living room talking. Gamthee came up and hugged me from behind. Then he and I walked into the kitchen where Tavroth and Latula were cooking. Eridan wanted to talk to me or get my opinion on something. The exchange between him and Gamthee leads me to believe that they were black for each other. Anyway, Eridan took me to another room and pulled out a medium sized jewelry box. Inside it was a fish pendent inlaid with sapphire.”

You smile widely and finger the necklace that you're wearing. “That was the night he proposed to me.”

“What happened?” he asks you. “That was only one part of the dream I had in the cafeteria.” His brow furrows again. “He killed. Gamthee. He killed people. Who did he kill?”

You look back down. “He killed Eridan and Tavros.”

* * *

=====> Be Sollux

You dry heave, turning away from the computer. Nothing comes up but you immediately feel sick again. “That's why...” You swallow down what wants to come up. “That's why she called.” You feel like you're going to be sick again.

You glance up at Aranea. “That was the same night it was raining. You were on your way back to Eridan. You had been at the house with Aradia and I because it Eridan's day with Gamthee.”

Now it _**all**_ came flooding back to you. You wanted to move onto the bed but you didn't think you were able to move without hurting yourself or someone else.

Before you can do anything else though, Karkat is at your side.

* * *

=====> Be Karkat

You were going to slaughter Gamzee next time you saw him. The least you were going to do was slap him across the face. How the hell could this have happened? Of course. He was a flipping stoner who was part of a very sinister religion. Fucking hell!

You don't take in much of what Sollux, Aranea, and Aradia are talking about but you do see when Sollux goes rigid. You know what that means. He was close to a seizure and he needed to be out of that chair. You kneel next to him and Mituna is on his other side before you can say anything.

The both of you lift him gently and carefully walk him over the bed. You lay him down gently and walk back to the computer and sit in the seat., knowing Mituna is watching over Sollux.

“Explain to me everything,” you tell them. “Start with quadrants and go from there.”

“Well, you know both of our quadrants,” Aranea tells you. “Eridan was in my red quadrant, Aradia was in my pale quadrant, I didn't have anyone in my black quadrant, and Porrim was in my ashen quadrant.”

You narrow your eyes. “Why have an auspistice if you don't have a black romance?” you ask.

“The idea behind that was just in case there was any kind of fight between anybody, there would always be a designated mediator to go to,” Aradia explains to you.

“Which actually turned out to be a pretty good idea,” Aranea concedes. “It helped a lot in the after math of Gamzee.”

“You're quadrants consisted of Sollux and Aranea. Was Porrim also your ashen crush?” you ask Aradia.

“No, actually Kankri was my auspistice,” she tells you.

You remember back to the conversation you shared with Penny and you nod. “Who was in Sollux's quadrants?” you ask.

“Gamzee and Latula swapped quadrants on occasion, but typically Gamzee was his diamond and Latula was his spade, but after the incident, he wanted nothing to do with Gamzee. His relationship with Latula changed from black to pale.”

“What was his relationship with Gamzee most of the time?”

“Feelingth tharted out pale. Thingth were fine. Nothing wath wrong. Latula athked if we could be moirailth at one point but I already had Gamthee. At thome point it became more of a reathon to keep him clothe becauthe I felt that thomething wathn't right. I put Latula in my black quadrant to keep an eye on her. I'm glad I did too, becauthe after she found Tavroth dead in hith houthe, Aradia and I were the firtht oneth she called.

“Aranea called no more than two hourth later to tell uth that Eridan had been killed ath well. I found Gamthee and ran him through the ringer. And after that, Feferi wanted to take over becauthe Eridan wath her moirail.”

You blink at the screen and then look behind you at the bed. Sollux was laying there with his eyes closed, but it sounded to you as if he remembered everything. “What happened after that?”

He laughed coldly. “After that? Feferi turned him over to Equiuth. The fucker lived. After killing hith damned red and black quadranth, he livth. Unlawful ith what it ith. He detherved to die, he _should have_ died. She thpared hith life and let him live.”

You furrow your brow and think back to what Gamzee told you on the way to the cafeteria that morning. If somebody had spared Gamzee's life after he had taken an innocent life or two, of course he was going to hold them in high respect and call them cool.

“Are you sure the heiress in that timeline was Feferi?” you ask. You know that she would be nice enough to spare his life, but something didn't quite add up to you. “Are you sure that wasn't Connie?”

Both Aradia and Aranea shake their heads. “That's the thing. We have our names from them. That was Feferi.”

You groan. Today was a wonderful day full of joy and peace and light! Right now, this day needed to go to hell! “Then we have a problem. Gamzee has a new voice in his head and it was telling him the Condesce is cool and pretty much calling her a good person.”

They both look at you and you can feel Mituna's eyes on you too.

“Yeah, that's what I said. I think that voice was a different version—a past version of Gamzee, maybe—but it doesn't matter. He knew the Condesce. I think this same thing happened to him. I mean, if she spared his life, of course he's going to look at her with respect and what not.”

* * *

=====> Be Sollux. It's been a few hours since your conversation with the girls. You've had dinner and played video games with Nichole and Hannah and the others. Except Penny. She doesn't partake in such “ridiculous activities”. Now it's time for bed.

“I can't _believe_ you got AA on your thide about the Eri/Danny thing, KK,” you say, pulling the blankets back and crawling into bed.

“I can't believe Latula wath your kithmethith in a patht life,” Mituna says, crawling into bed next to you.

“I can't believe she thaid that ED and I were clothe in that life.” You furrow your brow, thinking back on the conversation and you feel utterly...betrayed? Confused? Creeped out? _Disturbed._ You feel disturbed. “Like... Do you guyth actually agree that if thingth had gone differently—like if Aradia had died inthead of Eridan—that he and I may have ended up together?”

Karkat groans and holds a pillow over his ears. “What I can't believe is that you're still on this, Captor! Go. To. _SLEEP!_ ” Moments later there is a knock on bedroom door which gets the pillow thrown at it. “We're not interested in what you're selling.”

“I'm not _selling_ anything, Carter. I'm here to make sure you three are abiding by the proper noise level of the night. I will leave when I believe you three are being sufficiently quiet and not keeping up the rest of the house.”

You do your best to stifle your laughter which doesn't work well.

Karkat rolls his eyes and glares at you. “You did this, Captor. _You_ make him go away.”

“Not my fault,” you say with a shrug. “You're the one who wath yelling at me.”

“Good night, Kankri!!” Mituna says quite loudly which results in a mini-lecture about why people should be quiet at such and such time of day and such and such time of night and how it's rude to keep others awake.

You glance at Karkat and see that he's doing his best not to lash out at his red-clad older brother. “Jacob, right now _you_ are keeping **us** up,” he points out in a very restrained tone. “And we would appreciate it very much if you went to your room so we can all sleep.”

You giggle. “Yeah, KK geth very tethty if he hathn't had the proper amount of beauty retht,” you tease.

He shoots you a glare to which you just respond with a grin and a kiss.

“I hate you,” he mutters.

“Love you too, KK..”

“Thweet dreamth, Kankri,” Mituna says, quieter this time.

Kankri waves good night and leaves, satisified with the sound level.

“I don't know about you two, but I'm passing out. Today has been one giant headache. Karkat out.”

“We should follow hith lead,” Mituna whispers. You both lay down and turns to you, laying an arm across your chest. “You okay with being the little thpoon tonight?”

You gaze into his eyes, studying them deeply. “I'm fine with that,” you tell him, giving him a nod. You know it would make him feel better, feeling you safe and secure in his arms after the scene that happened today. _And,_ you find yourself thinking, _maybe it would give you some peace of mind as well._ “It would be beneficial for uth both, I think.” You roll over, facing him. You place a chaste kiss on his lips and stroke a thumb over his cheek. “I'm right here and I'm not going anywhere. Promise.” He kisses you back and then you nuzzle into his chest, wrapping your arms around him. “I think I like thith better,” you tell him. You feel him kiss the top of your head and soon you're drifting off to sleep.

_You jerk awake and find yourself on a chessboard full of ruin and destruction. Bodies are littered everywhere and the white patches are stained rainbow. You lurch forward and fall to your knees, feeling your dinner make it's way up your food chute._

_You hear footfalls, but you don't have the time or the will-power to move. You're kicked in the gut and the force of it pushes you over. It also finishes the job that the gruesome scene before you began. You feel yourself lifted up by your throat. You cough, choking from the force of the hold._

_The sight that meets you is startling. You find yourself face-to-face with... You? He's dressed in purple. You try to glance down at yourself but the grip leaves no room for movement. You take in the bodies on the war sight and see that they are wearing either gold or purple. By that knowledge, you deduce that you're wearing gold._

“ _YOU DID THIS!” he hisses sharply. You automatically flinch back at the hostility in his voice but his grip on you holds tight. You don't fail to notice the lack of lisp in his voice either. “IT'S YOUR FAULT THEY'RE DEAD!” For some reason, his voice is a lower register that yours as well._

_You quickly notice that his hands are at his side. Where else would they be? Of course he's using his psionics to hold you up. “How the hell ith it my fault?” you snap back irritably, fighting his psionics with yours. It isn't doing much but it's enough that the grip around your neck loosens just enough so you're not fighting for air._

“ _YOU DIDN'T DO_ ANYTHING _! YOU DIDN'T WARN FEFERI! YOU DIDN'T WARN KARKAT! YOU DIDN'T WARN ERIDAN! YOU DIDN'T DO_ **SHIT** _!”_

_He bursts into a ball of white flame suddenly. You can see that his skin is burnt black inside the flame. His eyes are no longer red and blue, but amber and dark green. His horns are no longer the color of candy corn either. Now they start off purple and then fade off to black._

“ _YFIEU CAWWJ QLEXYK YFI OLAAK LXJ YFI FLAAK.” You can't understand a thing he says but you can feel hate and black emotions dripping from all the words he throws at you. He laughs darkly, his grip on your throat tightening. “WU EX YFEK BLKI, YFIEU CAWWJ KYLEXK YFI CLYYAIHEIAJ.” Your vision darkens as his psionic abilities begin to overpower yours. “VWWJ XEVFY AWKIU! OIABWZI YW L JWWZIJ YEZIAEXI!”_

_Everything goes black._

You fly awake, coughing. You quickly sit up and quickly scan the area. You're back in the bedroom, Mituna by your side. Karkat is sleeping soundly—mostly anyway—in his own bed. You hear him muttering something and you think he's yelling at himself. Probably having an argument with some past self or possibly another self found in a dream-bubble. You quickly wonder if those actually still exist. Those thoughts aside, everything looks fine.

“Go back to thleep, Thol,” Mituna grumbles, his arm moving from your lap to your chest, gently trying to push you back down. “Whatever nightmare you jutht had, we can dithcuth it in the morning.”

“In a thecond,” you whisper, taking his hand and gently setting it on his chest. You get up from the bed and tip-toe quietly to your bag. “I need to tekth thomeone really fatht,” you tell him, digging around for your phone.

He giggles. “Gonna tektht your boyfriend?” he teases in a quiet sing-song voice.

You shoot him a glare. “No!” you hiss. “Yeth, I'm tekthting him, but he ithn't my boyfriend. Ick! Bethideth, that'th not why I'm tekthting him.”

You find your phone and walk back to the bed. You sit down and type out a text. Once you send it you lay down and curl back up with Mituna, but sleep eludes you. The nightmare is still fresh in your head.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The random garble in the nightmare is supposed to be Grimdark. I got the idea here. http://no-hope-for-corrupted-souls.tumblr.com/Horrorterror-speak Basically, I typed what I wanted it to say first and then switched the letters around. I typed the opposite placement. Left=Right, Right=Left and V=G or G=V. Hmm... Eridan speak by that law would be vv=gg and ww=oo. Anyway, I'm getting off track.
> 
> Translations:  
> 1) “THEIR BLOOD PAINTS THE WALLS AND THE HALLS.”  
> 2) “OR IN THIS CASE, THEIR BLOOD STAINS THE BATTLEFIELD.”  
> 3) “GOOD NIGHT LOSER! WELCOME TO A DOOMED TIMELINE!”
> 
> Um...In other news, I have next weeks update finished, but I haven't been working on the fic for the past week and a half. I'm thinking I'll pick it up again in a few days but if I stop posting on it, I'm sorry. But, within the past few days I've gotten some new inspiration. I'm also working on an original fic as well, though. So just a heads up.
> 
> Also, if you are hs kin, or anything like that, I do have a tumblr. Scattered-dreamers.tumblr.com
> 
> And with that, I bid you adieu.


	8. Memories and Revelations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cronus talks to Amrath and Faette some more and memories finally click into place for him, but will the things he remember spell doom for our heroes?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys. Happy Father's Day!! I may not post next week because I barely have any of the chapter typed right now. I like to be a chapter ahead and time seems to have caught up with me. Annoying but yes. Don't worry. I wont be dropping this, I just may not post every single week. This chapter was hell to start. If it feels forced, I wont work with it and that's how it felt the first few times I started this thing and by the time I had finished the Pesterlogs, it barely hit 12 pages. I felt it needed more. I like where I ended it though.

=====> Be Kurloz

It's 4:00 AM and you can't sleep. You're not having nightmares or anything like that. You're just excited to go. You know Sollux and Mituna will be fine where they are. Personally you're excited to go on a ship and travel for the month.

Ever since your dad stopped coming to the family visitation days, you felt lonely. You have friends in Skaia, but it isn't exactly the same, not when you see the others with their families. It wouldn't be so bad, but you don't even have a sibling like they do.

It makes you wonder what happened to your dancestor. Maybe he was just late to showing up. Maybe he doesn't even need to attend mental facilities.

You think of Horuss and his dancestor. Neither of them attend Skaia but they are least connected in some way. You know all the Zahhaks stay in touch with the Leijons and, by extension, the Maryams and Vantases.

Another thought flits through your head and it makes you sad. What if he is with your dad? What if he was already part of the bigger picture? That would make him part of the opposite side and you didn't want to think about that.

You are already sad that even in this life Meulin is deaf. That's the only reason you are in Skaia. You had a night terror of blood painting the walls, of him killing Meulin's dancestor. You already know that it was the same nightmare in your past life that made her deaf.

You had awoken again with a loud honk and immediately went through your dad's stash of stuff. You found what you were looking for. You knew you would. You remembered Eli—the Executioner—giving your dad copper wire one year. Zahhak gifts are the most predictable in the general, but you never know what specific thing you are actually going to get. But back to the point, you found the wire in the garage and a blow torch. You know most people would think the blow torch overkill, but it wasn't. Not since you had been trying to mold the end of the wire into a point.

Long story short, that's how you got into Skaia. And lost your girlfriend. You tried to explain to her why you did it—or attempted it actually. You had been caught before you could do anything major. You have a few burn scars on your lips, but you cover those up with black stitch make-up that you permanently wear on your mouth.

You've thought about asking Porrim to permanently tattoo them on your mouth, but the most she said she'd do and the most she'll ever suggest you get is henna tattoos. Every time she visits, you have her do it, but with all the chaos of yesterday, it didn't get done.

Oh well. You brought the make-up with you for a reason, right?

You roll off the couch that you had been lying on and look at the clock. 4:23 AM. You figure it's about the right time to start breakfast.

You rifle through the pantry and find pancake mix for pancakes and you start frying up some bacon and sausage too. A small puppy is bouncing and barking excitedly by your ankles as you cook.

You break off a small piece of bacon and let it cool before giving it to him. He jumps up and lightly nips your fingertips as well as the bacon and it tickles. You pat him on the head and go back to cooking.

The meat finishes cooking and you think omelets would be good as well so you go on to make those as well. You are in the process of cooking those when Gavin walks in, sleep in his eyes, looking tired but awake. You glance at the clock. It's 4:47. It's about time for people to be waking up anyway.

It's almost 5:00 AM when you get breakfast fully cooked. You lay out the place settings with Chester's help and everybody sits down. The puppy is yapping at your feet, running around in circles while you are laying the food out.

He then quickly runs to Danny's door and paws at it. You barely open the door for him and he forces the door open the rest of the way, leaping on top of Danny to wake him up.

* * *

=====> Be Danny

You are sleeping. You are sleeping soundly. That is, until your bedroom door slammed open and you are pounced on by a four-legged creature with floppy ears and slobbery kisses. You groan and try to hide under your pillow but it just doesn't work because your face—including your nostrils—are attacked with puppy slobber.

You thought he was the most adorable thing when you got home the day before. You thought it was touching that both your dad and your brother picked him out for you. Your dad even told you that the puppy spent time on the ship in the water so he knew not to jump over the railings and into the water. You don't think that's going to last for long though when he sees fish jumping in the ocean so you made sure there is a life vest specifically for him.

You giggle when he starts licking your ear. You laugh and wrap your arms around him. Yes, a puppy. That's exactly what you need—a caring, loyal friend who will always be with you.

You laugh and sit up, swinging your legs over the side of the bed. You take a deep breath and inhale the scent of a delicious home-cooked breakfast. That's something you haven't had in a while.

You slip on your slippers and shuffle to the dining room, puppy in tow. “Mmm,” you mumble sleepily, rubbing your eyes. “Smells delicious.”

Kharl makes a motion in sign language and you're pretty sure he just said “Thank you”. Or he said “you're welcome”, meaning the meal. Either way, you grin and nod as you sit down.

You take a few bites and tell him how good it is. Your dad, your brother, and Gavin agree. Kharl smiles and you eat the rest in calm silence.

* * *

=====> On LOTAK. Sometime in the future.

“It'th fuckin' HOPELETH, damn it!” You're yellow now. You are no longer green and the hope that you felt once upon a time is completely gone. You grab your scalp and tug at your hair. You don't know what to do. You collapse to your knees, sobbing. “FUCKIN' HOPELETH!!” You sob loudly and almost start wailing.

Fefeta, pink and two legged as well, kneels down in front of you and starts petting your hair. You are hyperaware that the area she's petting no longer has any form of horns, your dual stingers, or Eridan's wavy, lightening bolt shaped horn. “It's going to beach okay. Whale get fur this. I purromise.”

You can't take the sea puns or the cat puns and you are pretty sure it's the end of the world. You hadn't been filled with this much doom since before the beginning of the game. You look up at her, yellow tears creating darker yellow tracks on your already yellow face. “HOWW??” you shout at her.

You cringe at the volume and the sharpness of the question. Maybe it's also the fact that you still have his _dumb wwavvy soundin' accent_. Fefeta doesn't seem effected by any of it at all though.

“We were ambushed, Tavvrith ekthploded, wwe savved you from the blast, and noww Eridan ith gone twwo. Our thituathion ith litterally hopeleth!!” you shout at her. You figure that maybe if you shout it loud enough, she'll understand that you two are literally hopeless now because there are no longer any hope players around. Not to mention, the other sprites vanished to god knows where.

She places one hand on her hip and rests her other hand on your shoulder. “No fin is efur hopeless, Mr. Grumpy Gills. Don't you remempurr what I always kept telling Erifin? We just need to look at things in another light. Like back before the game started, I was always hopeful that I could reinvent the word cull. It would no longer mean to kill some fin or someone. Cull, in my mind, has always been synonymous with caring for a lesser creature and nursing it back to a healthier state.” She leans in and kisses your hair. “You two should have listened to Jake more. Maybe his hopefulness would have rubbed off on you two.”

You fake gag at that, but the sickening twisting you feel in your gut isn't fake. You feel guilty for being such an ass, but then again, he kind of asked for it. Though, it's not like he knew either of your stories to be fair. “Wwhy the hell wwould he athk uth for relationthip advvice anywway?”

She stands up and offers you a hand up, which you gratefully accept. “It's not his fault. He didn't know, you silly fish. Neither of you even really bothered to get to know him. He definitely didn't get to know you. The both of you separately hardly let anybody into your head.” She puts her hands on her hips. “Together, you two are impossible.”

Your face falls. “Exthept...” You are now playing the toe of your shoe against the ground. “Wwe did let somebody in.” It was true. You let Eridan in and Eridan let you in. You two were stuck together. What else were you going to do? You feel the tears building again. “And noww he's gone!” You sob again, tears streaming down your face. She takes you into her arms and holds you tight against her while you cry. “Why didn't the blatht kill me too?” you sob. You aren't paying enough attention to your own speech pattern to realize that you said _why_ normally.

She caresses your back, papping you. “You wouldn't want to leave me all alone out here by myself, would you?” she asks you quietly.

Come to think of it, you do remember sometime on the timeline Eridan asking you to take care of her for him. She's right. You wouldn't want to do that and Eridan wouldn't want that either. He'd probably try to magic you back to the surface so you could take care of her again.

You laugh. It's true. But the silence in your head is still deafening and you find yourself wondering where he is and how he's fairing and if really is dead.

He probably is though. It was probably only the curse that is your duality that kept you alive in the explosion.

You never understood how you could miss somebody that you hated so much, but now you understand and you begin to wonder if you had pale feelings for him all this time.

* * *

=====> Be Amrath.

You lay in bed and gaze up at the ceiling. It's Saturday morning and you feel ridiculous. You had another nice dream of your past life. It was a memory, one that you remember distinctly.

You were in your hive just chilling out when Eridan came over. He told you all about Feferi. You knew for a while that he had a flushed crush on her. You felt bad that he was moirail-zoned with her. It was even worse because you had a pale crush on him. You didn't say anything to him about it, because you knew that as much as he wanted to be in her flushed quadrant, you knew it would be worse if he didn't share any quadrants with her.

So, until something happened with them, you were perfectly fine being just a friend. You never did figure out if anything became of that as the both of you had been transported into two totally different game sessions and you both became preoccupied with your separate sessions.

He talked with you when he came over, he cried, and had a nice emotional release for the time being. He told you he didn't want to worry you with everything and that he would have gone to Karkat but Karkat was busy caring for Gamzee, cooking for him and playing games with him—basically just spending some quality time with his moirail. And as Eridan had put it, he didn't want to be intruding. He assured you that he was welcome, but he didn't want to help with Gamzee. Eridan just wanted somebody to listen to him and help him figure out what to do.

You sigh and continue to stare at the ceiling. You miss the simpler times. You wish you could remember Karkat's chum handle. You could just ask Nichole, but you don't know if he'd approve of his little sister talking with you. You two didn't get along too well on Alternia. Although, now you can't remember why.

You sit up. It doesn't matter anyway. Instead though, you think you'll just chat with Nikki and see how things are going with her.

galeforceCatastrophe [GC] started trolling arsenicCatnip [AC] at 10:12 AM

GC: Hey  
GC: Vvhat's vp?

You sit for a bit with no response. It's fine though. She's probably hanging out with Mina or someone. You decide to chat with someone else for a bit.

galeforceCatastrophe [GC] started trolling greaserLightening [GL] at 10:15 AM

GC: Hey  
GC: Chester right?  
GC: Vvith so mvch roleplaying vve did back in school I keep vvanting to call you Cronvs.

* * *

=====> Be Chester

You feel your phone buzz in your pocket. You quickly pull it out and glance at it. GC? GC? Galeforce? You wonder if that's another one of Gemma's handles. You glance at the messages. Cronvs? Must be.

You're about to reply when the waitress delivers your brunch to the table. It looks so good so you quickly dig in. The food is devoured quite quickly and you're back on the road again.

You pull your phone out of your jacket pocket and reply.

GL: Yeah, Chester  
GL: Vwhat about you?  
GL: Amrath, right Chief?

* * *

=====> Be Amrath

Your heart skips a beat. Does he actually remember YOU or does he just remember the roleplays?

GC: Does this mean yov remember me?  
GL: Of course. Howv couldn't I?  
GL: Your character talks just as oddly as Danny and I  
GL: His quirk is different from...  
GL: Vwhat's her name?  
GC: Faette

_Did_ he remember? You hate that the three of you had made characters that had been based on your past lives. You hated calling them OC's too. It's not like Danny and Chester knew that they were of their past lives, the details were just there subconsciously. You don't fault them for that, but now whenever things were brought up, it makes you question.

GL: Yeah  
GL: Vwhat's her quirk again, Chief?  
GC: F@ette's qu1rk 1s replac1ng i's with 1's, a's with @'s, and for with four.  
GC: God I don't see hovv she can type like that  
GC: It's so lovv class and...and...and

You feel eyes on you so you turn around in the computer chair in the headspace and grin sheepishly at Faette. “I'm not saying yov're lovv class, Fae, I'm jvst saying it's a jvvenile qvirk.”

“It's not juvenile.” She gets up off the bed. “You're just too much of a highblood to understand.” She walks up behind you. “Also, call me low-blooded again.” She leans in close to you. “I dare you,” she whispers in your ear.

You'd rather not take that challenge. She's fast and her maces scare you. There's not much in way of strifeing that you can do in close quarters with her. You know how to use fistkind but you refuse to use that against her unless you're defending yourself, but even that is no match to one of her maces. You cringe. Hand-to-mace combat even _sounds_ gruesome.

You change chum handles from GC to OP while you're explaining things to Chester. Who knows, maybe you can make him understand that it's not just a game.

galeforceCatastrophe [GC] has changed their handle to orchestratedParadox [OP] at 11:10

GL: If I remember correctly, isnt Faette somevwhat higher on the blood-scale?  
GL: Didn't you make her a green-blood or something?

For now, you think he just has a really great memory because, truth be told, you don't remember meeting him on Alternia. Only Eridan.

OP: Her blood is forest green  
OP: Somewhere between Sollux's and Nepeta's on the hemospectrum  
GL: Oh right. Carter's sis  
GL: I forgot that she vwas into the vwhole RP thing too

“Not roleplay!” you shout out loud. God, this was frustrating.

GL: But vwho's Sollux?  
OP: A dumbass mustard blood who I would rather not talk about  
OP: Amrath

God, you hated referring to yourself in the third person.

OP: is a sea-dweller.  
OP: He is plum blooded  
OP: It means he's somewhere on the spectrum between Gamzee and you Amporas  
OP: Higher than Gamzee but a few shades lower than Cronus and Eridan.  
OP: But because he is higher on the spectrum than Gamzee, he's a sea-dweller

* * *

=====> Be Chester

You actually find this conversation highly intriguing and are very interested.

GL: Vwhat else can you tell me about the blood caste system?

You wanted to learn more. You aren't sure why, but this is sounding familiar and that has nothing to do with the roleplays.

* * *

=====> Be Amrath

You quirk your eyebrow at the reply you received.

OP: Sure  
OP: Whatever you want  
OP: I can break down the hemospectrum for you  
GL: Sounds good. Start off basic for me chief  
OP: From low to high, it spans red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet, and fuschia  
OP: The darker the shade of the color, the higher on the spectrum  
OP: Rust red as opposed to scarlet red for instance  
GL: So rust is high on the red spectrum because it's darker?  
OP: 'zactly  
GL: But isn't plum darker than vwiolet?  
OP: Fuschia is also lighter than red but it's a richer color  
OP: Sea-dwellers are different.  
OP: The lighter the color, the higher on the spectrum  
GL: The fuck?  
GL: Freaking trolls  
GL: So...  
GL: the richer the shade, the higher up?

That's a good question. You think about that.

OP: I think?  
OP: Lol  
OP: Any reason you ask?

* * *

=====> Be Chester

You don't know how to respond that currently. The blood caste thing was sounding very familiar and you know it was something you hadn't gone over in this much detail when you were making the characters. Either Gemma had been thinking about this in depth all these years or there is a deeper story to it all.

You feel like it's the latter, because you feel something pulling at your chest when you think of a deeper story. It feels like something is pulling at the edge of your vision. You want to ask your dad about it, but you don't want to do it with everybody in the car.

* * *

=====> Be Amrath

He replies back to you after about ten minutes.

GL: This isn't just roleplay is it?

You're mouth falls open in shock. Was... Was he actually understanding it?

OP: *I shake my head*  
OP: No. No it isn't.  
OP: It's all real  
OP: It all happened  
OP: Cronus  
OP: Eridan  
OP: Even Dualscar  
OP: I only say that because I remember Danny being high up into the LARP thing  
GL: Vwho's Latula?

That question surprised you. You had never spoke of her. Meaning he does remember.

OP: Latula is

“Let me cut in, please. I remember that timeline better than you do. I spent more time in the dream-bubbles with them than you did.”

GL: Is vwhat?

Dream-bubbles. You feel special. That made sense. You didn't spend much time in them, not as much as she did. That explains why you only knew some things.

orchestratedParadox [OP] has changed their handle to incandescentStarlight [IS] at 12:30 PM

IS: +:> Faette here  
IS: +:> I can explain about this better than he can  
IS: +:> Your relationship with her is complicated  
IS: +:> You had a thing for Mituna  
IS: +:> Flushed feelings  
IS: +:> You and him were friends before he had a major accident  
IS: +:> After the accident he forgot that you were friends  
IS: +:> You were still red for him, but not remembering  
GL: He flipped black for me  
GL: That's vwhy he called me a spade yesterday  
GL: He had a panic attack  
GL: Freaking out saying he's dead  
GL: He vwas talking about Alex  
GL: Vwho's not dead  
GL: He just fainted  
IS: +:> Memories  
GL: And Mituna vwas flushed for Latula instead  
GL: …  
GL: Hey vwhat can you tell me about _Kanny_  
IS: +:> Kankri  
IS: +:> Your pale crush  
IS: +:> Not crush. He was actually your moirail  
GL: He kept me in line  
GL: And I gavwe him protection  
GL: Right. I remember nowv  
GL: He being the lowest  
GL: And I was the highest second to Meenah.

* * *

=====> Be Cronus

GL: Mina  
GL: That's vwhy shes such a bitch!!  
GL: She remembers  
GL: EVWERYTHING  
GL: Fuck!!

Oh shit! That's why she is the way she is!! You need to talk to Kanny and tell him that you remember! EVERYTHING!! You just hope he does too.

GL: You keep talking and explaining  
GL: If you vwant  
GL: I need to talk to Kankri

You quickly switch contacts and message Kankri. You hope he has his phone on him or something. You don't really want to do this over text. You feel this is a conversation better suited to the chat client.

greasedLightening [GL] started trolling arcaneAdvocate [AA] at 12:35 PM

GL: Kan  
GL: Kanny  
GL: Kankri  
GL: I remember  
GL: Evwerything  
GL: And vwe need to talk  
GL: Its important

You wait five minutes before you get a response.

AA: Y9u d9 remem6er  
GL: More or less yeah  
GL: I've been speaking vwith Amrath and Faette  
GL: But that's not the important part  
GL: Meenah knowvs  
GL: She remembers  
GL: Evwerything I think  
GL: Including her evwer-spectacular run as the Condesce herself  
AA: I th9ught that was C9nnie  
GL: Different runs, different games  
GL: IDK but it's all coming back to me  
GL: Remember howv I alvways vwanted to be human?  
GL: Turns out I had a plethora of reasons that I couldn't begin to tell you in the game  
GL: Memory issues  
GL: Not *issues*, not like 'Tuna  
GL: Memories were hidden from me  
GL: I think his accident had to do vwith the same reason that my memories vwere hidden from me.  
GL: This vwhole thing  
GL: Rebirth  
GL: Being human  
GL: Evwen Skaia  
GL: It's a set up to get us all together and be done vwith us once and for all  
GL: Because evwen nowv we're still heroes.  
GL: Hero of Hope  
GL: Hero of Blood  
GL: So on and so forth  
GL: Basically if they can eradicate us  
AA: They can rule everything  
AA: We're the 9nly 9nes wh9 can stop them  
GL: All the heroes  
GL: Everyone needs to be avwakened  
GL: Because if vwe're still not all avwakened by the time this catastrophe hits  
GL: We kiss our basses goodbye

You switch back over to chatting with Gemma.

GL: I remember evwerything  
GL: And it's all thanks you guys  
GL: I don't even knowv vwho I'm chatting vwith right nowv but if everyone vwho remembers the game can pay attention  
GL: This is serious!

incandescentStarlight [IS] has changed their handle to orchestratedParadox [OP] at 12:50 PM

OP: What's up?  
OP: Everyone of us is here and at the ready  
OP: Awaiting your command, Mr. Dualscar Sir  
GL: No  
GL: No Dualscar  
GL: That vwasn't me  
GL: I don't think...  
GL: Not the point  
GL: I remember EVWERYTHING  
GL: Gemma, you're attending Skaia right?  
OP: Sir yes sir, we are!  
GL: Good  
GL: This is important  
GL: I told Kanny evwerything that surfaced in my memories.  
GL: I think if it vweren't for you guys and the roleplays, vwe'd all be toast  
GL: I'm evwen remembering things that I found out before or during the game  
GL: But somebody hid those memories from me like they didn't want me to knowv  
GL: Faette I knowv you knowv Mituna.  
GL: I don't knowv howv much you'vwe been able to find out about his accident  
GL: But I have good reason to believwe that his accident has to do vwith the memories that vwere hidden from me  
GL: I'm gonna send you the convwersation between me and Kanny

greasedLightening [GL] sent attachment to orchestratedParadox [OP] at 12:57

Your phone alerts you of another message from Kankri

AA: Wait th9ugh  
AA: What a69ut Aradia and Damara?  
AA: I mean, they're n9t ar9und  
AA: Am6er was released fr9m Skaia  
GL: Betty  
GL: Guaranteed  
GL: She has no idea, but she's a flyin' cod fish of a life savwer for us  
GL: She's a screwv-up for the other side for sure  
AA: But...  
AA: Betty Crocker  
AA: Isn't she the human identity the Condesce took  
AA: Shouldn't she be evil?  
GL: No  
GL: It's all clicking into place  
GL: Connie  
GL: Betty  
GL: Meenah  
GL: Feferi  
GL: Connie is the Condesce  
GL: Feferi is her descendant  
GL: Meenah is her post-scratch self  
GL: Meenah means well, but she's too closely tied to Connie and her history  
GL: She may end up being a bad piece for us  
GL: But in the same way Betty is provwing to be a bad piece for the other side as vwell  
GL: She's the undoing that Scratch and English never sawv coming  
GL: She vwas Connie's front  
GL: And nowv that we're all human  
GL: All of Connie's ties to Betty havwe been sevwered  
GL: Betty vwas Connie's human identity vway back when  
GL: See, that's the beauty of it  
GL: Because that's ALL she vwas  
GL: Nowv that they all have separate identities, none of vwhat she did counts  
GL: All of the Betty Crocker Corp stuff vwas Connie in disguise  
GL: All of those memories are linked to Connie  
GL: Betty had no fin to do vwith it, therefore she isn't affected by past memories  
GL: Because in all technicality THIS is her first life  
GL: Her first *REAL* life  
GL: Think of it as Pinocchio.  
GL: She vwas a puppet vwith no life of her ovwn and no soul  
GL: Nowv she has a soul all her ovwn vwith no attachment to Connie  
GL: She has absolutely no memories of Connie except the ones here  
GL: And I would bet my bottom dollar that no matter what happens  
GL: She will NEVWER get those “past life” memories back  
GL: Because it vwasn't her life  
GL: THIS is the only life she knowvs.  
AA: 9kay  
AA: 6ut d9n't g9 thinking we have this in the 6ag just yet Cr9  
AA: The final 6attle has yet t9 6egin

You frown at your phone and type back a hasty reply.

GL: You're a kill joy, you know that Kanny?  
AA: I'm being realistic  
AA: Y9u can't g9 flying 9ff y9ur h9peful handle6ars just yet  
GL: Yeah  
GL: I guess you have a point  
GL: Thanks for keepin' me in line chief  
GL: You're a real lifesavwer

You watch as you pull into the Long Island Marina.

GL: Gotta go, Kan  
GL: Stay safe  
GL: Dad is taking me and Eri out on the house-boat  
GL: Probably vwon't have any phone or wi-fi connection  
GL: Kurloz and Gavwin are vwith us.

You flip back over to Gemma and send an attachment with the rest of the conversation that you just had with Kankri.

GL: Gotta go  
GL: I'll probably be offline for most of this month.  
GL: No idea what Dad has planned  
GL: I'll message you vwhen I'm back home though  
GL: And then you havwe to tell me vwhen you're at Skaia.  
OP: Aye aye cap'ain  
OP: Good luck!!

* * *

=====> Be Dualscar

You pull into the Long Island Boat Docks and feel like this is the best idea for everyone. You feel good about this. You also have no remorse about lying to Connie. Yes, you know exactly where Caliborn is. You dropped him off on some obscure pacific island per his request. No, Lord English is not going to get his claws in him, not as long as you have some say in the matter. And if that say has to be done with Ahab's Crosshairs, then so be it. You aren't going to leave any slight detail up to chance.

Universes have collided and it's up to all of you now. This is the second chance you needed. A second run through. There is no way you're just going to leave anything up to chance. In your mind, leaving things up to chance does not equate hope. Hope equates faith and faith equates hope. Faith does not equate chance, even though sometimes somethings need to be done blindly.

For the first few days, you plan on leaving them on the boat. It's partly for Danny's sake and partly so you can explain to the boys what is going on. You feel better doing in the middle of the sea. In the middle of the sea, there are no unwanted ears and eyes. That's a big reason that you are always on the water. You don't feel safe in one place for too long. The five of you with no unwanted eyes and ears.

The kids need to get along and mesh as a group. They also need to remember their pasts. **THAT** is imperative. Probably the _most_ imperative thing. It is the main reason for this trip anyway. You will also tell them that it is imperative that everyone wakes up in their own time. If they don't, that could be just as bad as waking up late.

After that is all said and done, you're all Barbados bound. You'll stop off quickly and pick up a few more guests and then Barbados is where you will dock for a few weeks before heading back to Skaia with the kids. It's a good way for them not to go crazy on the ship. Also, you thought a lot about what Caliborn said. You should tell Danny and Chester that Vivian and Mina are their sisters.

* * *

=====> Be Danny

It's now 9. You had a nice nap in the car, although, you feel like you had a dream. You just can't remember what it was. You shrug the thought away and stare out at the water.

It's calming and relaxing, hearing the sound of the waves lapping against the side of the boat and the sound of the waves out in the ocean too. You gaze up at the night sky. The stars are just starting to come out and you know with the next few hours the sky is going to look so brilliant and bright, you won't be able to breath right.

You vaguely remember having a friend that you used to do this with. A long time ago. But at the same time that feels wrong. You, Chester, and your father used to be the only ones on the ship when you guys would sail around, looking for another place to land and dock.

But at the same time, you remember being, and you abstractly feel yourself laying, on a giant wooden ship. You remember being out near the front most area of the ship, laying side my side with...someone. You really have no idea and you really don't even know what this is that you're feeling.

You sigh and lay both your arms on the deck railing and stare out over the waves. You can feel the presence of another person and by the long, thick hair that tickles your arm, you know it's Kharl. “Don't tell Dad and Chess, but I did kind of miss this. It's relaxing, bein' out here on the wwavves again.”

He lays an arm on your shoulder and you glance over at him. He's looking at you and smiling and then he looks out over the waves with you.

“Thanks,” you say, knowing it was his way of saying that your secret would be safe with him. You glance back out at the open waves and a white _thing_ catches your eye. You figure it's your imagination though, because it is gone just as soon as it was there.

“Hey, Daniel, Kharl, do you guys want to play a game?”

You look toward the doorway and you see Gavin standing there.

You shrug and Kharl nods. Why not? “Okay,” you say.

Kharl turns toward you and signs and you feel bad because you can't understand what he's saying. He's been your roommate since day one and you still see a lot of his signing as vague gesturing. In your defense, you still don't know sign language. You quickly wonder if that was on the list of classes you could have signed up for. You mentally shrug and make a quick note to message Car about it when you get access to wi-fi or some sort of internet again.

You shrug in response, feeling yourself begin to flounder. “I don't—”

“He's asking if Chester can play too,” Gavin explains before you have a chance to say that you don't understand.

Kharl smiles widely and makes another gesture toward Gavin that you are sure to be thank you.

You sigh to yourself. You had a whole month left to be stuck with your brother. May as well make the best of it. “Fine, yeah, sure. And while we are at it, we can talk— _communicate_ ,” you correct yourself, “and get to know each other, and let each other know why we are all at Skaia,” you say, half serious, half sarcastic.

With the four of you sitting around, it actually didn't go too bad.

You partially explain why you are in Skaia, never catching anybody's eyes. Your gaze is mostly in your lap during that explanation. You hated that it happened and now you view it as a lapse of weakness, but like the rest of your family, you don't want it to happen again, so you are rather thankful—even if you don't show it well—that you are in Skaia.

Chester explains how he felt when he found you on the floor in a puddle of red—that idea sits oddly with you. Not that you were in a puddle of blood but that you were in a puddle of red. You don't know why, but you find yourself thinking that that color was rather unbefitting and below you. Which is rather odd because don't _all_ humans have red blood? The fuck???

After he explains that and how sick he felt during the wait in the hospital, he pulls you into a hug. You want to fight it, but don't. This is actually nice. Not that you would tell him that. And then you feel like you are suffocating. _That's_ when you push him off of you.

“Wwhat the bloody feck wwas that for!?” you shout, accent thick in your voice. “God, you knoww I don't like much physical contact! And then you almost suffocate me!!” You groan and reel in the drama after seeing the look on his face. “Look, I don't mind a good hug evvery once in a wwhile, but wwarn me next time. I almost couldn't breath.” You lean into him and give him another hug. “I lovve you and I'm sorry. I had no idea that I put you through that.”

“And Da,” he responds, Scottish accent thick in his voice. “He vwas vworried sick 'bout ya.”

You cringe. You make a note to talk to him later as well as give him a large hug. You love him dearly and things are starting to feel off. You don't like it at all and want to know if it is normal or not. Maybe you will talk to him about that later as well. “I'll talk to him in a bit,” you tell Chester. He rubs your back and you lift an eyebrow, feeling something other than Chester's hand resting on your shoulder as well. Okay, yeah. This _thing_ is definitely not normal either. “I need to talk to you too.” Your whisper comes out muffled against his chest but you think from the way he squeezes your shoulder, he understands what you said.

“And I you. It's important,” he whispers in your ear. Then he pulls away, swishing his hand against your shoulder before he pulls away. You wonder if he felt the presence of that thing as well. He then looks at Gavin. “Vwhat's your story?” he asks.

Gavin takes a deep breath and looks around the table. You are curious to know as well. It's a story that you haven't heard yet.

* * *

=====> Be Gavin

“Vwhat's your story?” the greaser asks you, pulling away from Danny.

You take a deep breath, looking around the table. You figure they'll think you insane, but most everybody does anymore. “I hear voices,” you say, expecting something but getting nothing more than interested gazes. That's different.

“See, I knew they wouldn't judge ya, motherfucker,” Gamzee says in your ear.

“I have since I was young. I have a headmate who I talk to on occasion and my parents thought I was crazy and that I needed help, so I've been jumping around institutions since I was nine or ten.”

“Rose hears voices too,” Danny tells you. “I don't know if they're like the voices you hear, but she keeps saying that they tell her that the end is near. Also, she has no idea how to shut the, up.”

“Oh wow, that sounds like too much. At least mine sleeps. His name is Gamzee.” You hear small, excited honks in your headspace and you can see him running around with one of his horns, honking excitedly. “But when I turned thirteen, things started to get really bad. If the meds aren't taken, then I keep hearing voices telling me to 'kill the trolls' which I don't really understand.” You shrug. Besides Gamzee, you thought trolls didn't exist. “Aren't trolls some made up fantasy creatures who don't really exist?”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have plans for this definitely. Also, the part with the sprites on LOTAK, I had a source of inspiration for that part and decided to run with it. I have some kind of an inkling for a sequel, so we will see how that works out. This note is really just a heads up, because I may or may not touch back on that scene in this fic. Leaning toward not right now, but we will see. I don't have any plans for it at the moment.


	9. Humor of Horrorterrors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Horrorterrors speak to Rose, Karkat tries to explain that Roxy and Dirk were originally the parents of Rose and Dave, Eridan laments about things and has nightmares. Also, Captors know nothing about subtlety.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my gosh!! So many hits and kudos!! Thank you guys. ^^ I love comments as well, but seeing kudos and bookmarks warms my heart!! You guys are the best. ^^
> 
> The dreams and flashbacks in this chapter are a bit more graphic than usual because they depict death. If you aren't comfortable with that, I suggest skipping those parts. They are italicized, so finding those two parts will be easier.

=====> Be Rose

Try as you may to sleep for the night, you can't. The voices in your head are not shutting up. In fact, they are singing obnoxiously in your ears in a tune that you may or may not remember having heard before. You try to concentrate on it, but you can't. They are too obnoxious and you need some outward noise to drown them out.

You slip off your bed and walk out to the living room. Dirk is at the sitting on the living room floor with Roxy, playing cards. Dave is playing COD in a very animated fashion, laughing and throwing out sick rhymes and burns. You can hear faint screaming on the other end of the line. It's Carter most likely, from the sounds of the irritated screams and colorful vernacular you can hear coming from the headset.

You give Dave a kissy face and bat your eyelashes at him. He flips you off and you laugh. You know he has a thing for Carter but you can't tell if Carter harbors the same feelings. Still, you like to tease your twin about it.

You plop down next to Roxy. “Deal me in next game?” you ask.

“Thought you were going to sleep,” Roxy comments.

“Can't. Too loud,” you say, tapping your temple.

Roxy nods and Dirk is already searching on his phone for tunes. “Anything we can do to help?” she asks. Dave, Dirk, and Roxy know about the voices you hear. It's half the reason you two share a room at Skaia. The other half is her nasty drinking habit. She says she's over it and you believe her. She says the reason she's staying now is to keep you safe. Besides, Dirk works as a staff member and Dave is the facility as well. All four of you live there, so you really wouldn't want to have it any other way.

Really, you are actually very proud of Roxy for kicking her habit. You know that it was really hard for you and you are very thankful to her for sticking around at Skaia. “I'm not sure,” you answer. “Dirk, if I hummed along with the singing in my head, do you think you could place the song?” There may be an off chance this could work.

“If I know it, sure. Or my auto responder might be able to pick it up too. Hum away.”

You hum a few notes of the song that you are quite sure you have heard somewhere else before and he pulls up a song called “It's the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)” He starts to play it on YouTube and the obnoxious singing in your ears quickly turns to screeching. You make cutting signals with your hands and you quickly cover your ears. It didn't do anything to stop the screeching since it is inside your head, but oh well.

“Not that one!! What ever the heck they are just went crazy inside my head and I think one of the voices insinuated plucking out my eardrums with it's beak.” You lower your hands from your ears and you see that you even have Dave's attention now.

“There's a WoW version too,” Dave throws out. “Maybe that's the version they want.”

Dirk pulls it up and much to your concern, amusement, and irritation, the voices sing along. But after a bit you feel something more, something urging you to write down the human translation of what they are singing. You stand up and head back to your room for a notebook and pen and sit back down with your cousins. Quickly you scrawl notes in the notebook. When you finish, you pull away and examine what you wrote with confusion.

_Thats great / Now Everywhere my screen shakes / Classes and aspects and interface / But Nic Cage? / He's not afraid_

_Can't fly a rocket / Crashin' / Sick fires burning / Doomsayers die twice / Eridan is dressed in drag_

_Consorts are disappearing / Casey! What? / Nakk! Nakk! / Gl'bgolyb starts to chatter / Riot insight / Blinding white light!_

_It's the end of the world!!! / Of Homestuck / It's the end of the world!!! / Of Homestuck / It's the end of the world!!! / Of Homestuck / For real this time_

_Thirteen and four / Blind prophets / Dont fall into grasping spiders / Cal is gone / “So long” / “Fuck this shit” / “I quit!”_

“What in the world does any of this mean?”

* * *

=====> Be Dave

You flip your twin off because of the faces she makes at you. Yes you have a thing for Carter. You just have no idea if he feels the same thing for you. Oh well? You don't care. At least you're friends with him.

You feel her plop down in the space between you and Roxy. “Deal me in next game?” she asks.

“Thought you were going to sleep,” Roxy comments.

“Can't. Too loud,” she says and you automatically think to turn down the TV.

In your moment of distraction, you get shot down by Carter. “God damn it,” you mutter while Carter cackles in your ear.

“Eat lead, fucker,” he laughs.

You forgo your search for the remote since nobody is telling you to turn the game down anyway. If it was you keeping her up, both Dirk and Roxy would have said something, let alone Rose. Hell, she would have turned it down herself.

You partially pay attention to their conversation but pay more attention to the game since now you happen to be down three kills. Three?? How'd that happen?

“Off your game a bit tonight, Strider,” Carter teases.

“Distracted,” you answer.

“Oh? By what? Not watching porn again are you?”

“What? No!! That was weird as hell. Didn't I ask you not to bring that up again?” You huff and he laughs. “No, Rose woke up because the voices are being loud again and she can't sleep because of it.”

“Oh shit, that's not good,” Karkat chatters in your ear.

“Dirk, if I hummed along with the singing in my head, do you think you could place the song?”

“If I know it, sure. Or my auto-responder might be able to pick it up too. Hum away.”

“Those are the voices of Horrorterrors, aren't they?” he asks.

You don't respond. You're too busy paying attention to keeping alive. You're also partially listening to Rose hum a few notes that sounds suspiciously like “It's the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)”. Dirk finds the song on YouTube and you hear her just about shout, “Not that one!!” You turn around to see her waving one arm in a cutting motion while she tries to cover both ears with one hand and her arm. “What ever the heck they are just went crazy inside my head and I think one of the voices may have just insinuated plucking out my eardrums with it's beak.”

“Did she just say _beak_?” Karkat asks you.

“There's a WoW version too,” you toss out. “Maybe that's the version they want.” You turn back to your game. “Because it's about a game and a lot of us are having memories of games so why _wouldn't_ the whatevers—”

“Horrorterrors,” Karkat corrects you.

“So why wouldn'tthe _horrorterrors_ ,” you repeat, just to appease the little gremlin who's slaughtering you, “try to send a message via song about a different game that's just as similar as Sburb?”

You hear Karkat making small humming noises on the other end and you can practically hear the cogs moving in his brain. “You're still the only one in that house who knows, aren't you?”

You give a small shrug with your shoulders, watching Rose quickly walk past you. You quirk your eyebrows but make no mention of her odd disappearance. “Not sure. Dirk might, but I'm not sure. I mean, it's not like we ever touch on the topics of past lives or anything. Rose knows about my nightmares but when I talk about them with her, I just call them falling dreams.” You smile at her as she passes back by you again, but now it's like she doesn't even see you. “She doesn't have to know. I'd rather not tell my twin that I constantly see myself die every night.” You shake your head. “She'd either think I was crazy or burdened. I wouldn't want to see her look at me with pity or whatever. I don't want her looking at me differently.”

You could hear Karkat start to reply but you cut him off quickly when you hear Rose ask, “What in the world does any of this mean?”

You scoot closer to Roxy, Dirk, and Rose, peering over Rose's shoulder to read her notebook, but it's quickly snatched away by Roxy, who reads it aloud. “That's great. Now everywhere my screen shakes, classes and aspects and interface, but Nic cage; he's not afraid.”

You could hear Karkat groan over the headset.

“Can't fly a rocket, crashin'; sick fires burning. Doomsayers die twice; Eridan is dressed in drag.”

You giggle quietly on that part, hearing Karkat chuckle as well. “Way more than two,” he mutters into your ear.

“Consorts are disappearing. Casey! What? Nakk!! Nakk!! Gl'bgolyb starts to chatter. Riot insight. Blinding whit light!!”

Karkat fell silent on the other end of the headset. You briefly wonder if it had died, but then he makes a gasping coughing noise and you wonder if he choked on a gasp again.

“It's the end of the world of Homestuck!! It's the end of the world of Homestuck!! It's the end of the world of Homestuck for real this time!! Thirteen and four. Blind prophets. Don't fall into grasping spiders. Cal is gone. _So long, fuck this shit, I quit!!_ ”

“Well, that was something,” you say. “Karkat, can you call on Skype to help me explain this?” you ask into your headset.

“I thought that was Carter,” Rose notes.

* * *

=====> Be Roxy

“So, let me get this straight,” you start, still trying to wrap your mind around everything that was just dumped on you. “The two of us,” you gesture between yourself and Dirk, “are their _parents_?” you finish, gesturing to Rose and Dave. You feel a laugh bubble over from your chest. “Are you sure that _you're_ not the one who has the drinking problem?” you ask the fuming redhead on the screen in front of you. You fall over on Dirk and use his shoulder for support.

The idea of you and Dirk was so hilarious. He's your brother. You could never see him in any other light. And the idea that your cousins are your children just had you laughing more.

* * *

=====> Be Karkat

You are sitting in your bedroom, fuming at your computer screen. Not the screen per se, but the idiots on the other end of it. You set your jaw and glare at your blond idiot of a roommate on the other side of the camera. “Help me out here, Strider!” you order irritably, face red. The tips of your ears also feel hot. They probably match your hair right now.

To your immense irritation all Dave does is shrug. “I can't really. I remember jack shit besides my deaths. Stable time loops are hard shit when you don't know what you're doing.”

You sit bored at your computer while Roxy turns to Dave, concern all over her face. “Deaths?” she asks him in a confused tone. “You mean your dreams?” Nope, not a motherly reaction at all. You are completely wrong and you should admit yourself back into Skaia with the claim of alcohol addiction in addition to your supposed mental illness. You tap your fingers rhythmically on your computer desk.

“Is that why you wake up screaming?” Dirk ask him in a concerned tone.

Nope, not a parental reaction at all. It turns out you are completely wrong and the rest of the world is right. Like always.

You feel like closing the connection but you're not sure if you should yet or not. Instead, you reach over and pick up the book you've been reading since Toby and Alex left. Might as well see how this new plot arc works out. Does the man catch the fairy or will she outsmart the human and leave something in her place instead?

* * *

=====> Be Dave

You inhale deeply and let it out slowly. You really didn't want to be having this conversation at all, but you suppose it was bound to happen at some point or another. You nod weakly. “Yeah. Every night I watch myself die and it happens so many times, I don't know if they're memories anymore or if I'm finding myself dying in new timelines.”

You go on to explain about other things that are going on and what you have come to learn about Skaia, including stuff about John and some of the others.

* * *

=====> Be Danny

After the game, you break off from the group and go to your room for some much needed rest. Something felt off and you couldn't put your finger on it. Being around Gavin and Gamzee for too long gave you a bad sense of deja vu that you couldn't place.

You sigh and pick up your guitar. You don't know what the other three are getting up to but you figure Chester is talking to your dad. You know you should do the same and ask about these stupid ghosty things that keep following you. You swat at one that tries to settle on your legs. What the fuck?

You wonder if the house-boat is haunted but if that's the case, wouldn't Kharl have seen the wispy ghost things in the distance? Unless they are only showing themselves to you, but you can't think of why they would do that. You aren't important at all. You don't even think you're special in any way. Hell, the guy you like is going out of his way to avoid you _and_ make you feel like shit.

“Wwhatevver,” you sigh. You sit on the edge of your bed and tune your guitar. You haven't touched it since you entered Skaia, which has been a good two months. You remember the song that you had been attempting to learn. Now you wonder if you can still play any of the parts without making your ears bleed.

You pick at the strings and then strum a few chords, remembering which one started the song. You sing a few lines of the song, thinking maybe that would help you. You play a few notes and it sounds right. Then you sing while playing the notes and it sounds good. You know it's slower than the original song, but you aren't a fan of how fast and cheery the original song is, so you slow it down. The fact that you can't keep up with the tempo of the song has nothing to do with the lack of speed at which you play.

“If you're the bird / Wwhenevver wwe pretend it's summer / Then I'm the worm / I knoww the part, it's such a bummer.”

You sigh and stop strumming. You just feel so down. You don't know why and you don't get it. Why the hell won't he pay any more mind than just something of an annoyance? He doesn't even know you, damn it! Yet he acts like you're nothing more to him than a trivial annoyance and waste of his time. God damn it!! What did you do to him? You don't even know him!! He doesn't know you!! So he has no fucking room to judge!! You hope Carter has a chance to talk to him during break. God knows you won't be able to. Not that he'd let you talk to him anyway. He'd probably block you or yell at you or be a royal pain in the ass like he always is. Fucking idiot!!

You huff and turn your concentration back to your guitar. “Wwhatevver,” you repeat, rolling your eyes. You ready your fingers and pick up where you left off.

“But fair is fair / If my segments get separated / I'll scream / And you'll be there.”

You sigh and put the guitar down. You need another song to practice. This is stupid. He's an ass. Why the hell do you bother? There's something about him that you can't stand but you can't bring yourself to hate him and you can't figure out why you can't do it. “Wwhatevver.” You put your guitar back in it's case and snatch your phone off your desk and look at the beyond strange text exchange you had with him at about 2:00 AM.

 

**Xan **

 

** Bee careful of GZ. Make 2ure he keep2 on hii2 med2 and whatever you do, *DON'T* let hiim bake. E2peciially not piie. **

** Are you okay? Wwhy are you goin' on about pie at 2am? **

** Ugh!! Ye2 IIm okay!! Ju2t keep an eye on hiim. II get a weiird feeliing about them lettiing u2 out of 2kaiia. Even iif iit ii2 only for a month. **

** Wwhat? Do you think he's gonna get his hands on some wweird shit out in the the middle of the ocean? Wwe're gonna be on a house-boat in the middle of the Atlantic for cryin' out loud, Xan!! **

** Whatever! Ju2t bee careful! *II rudely giive you the miiddle fiinger beecau2e you are 2uch a paiin iin the a22* **

** *I roll my eyes and ignore such a childish gesture* You're the one wwho texted ME. Remember? **

** Two 2end you a warniing. You werent 2uppo2ed two text back. **

** You mean I wwasnt supposed to respond to the wwarning? I'll remember that next time. Thank you. **

** Just an FYII. That wa2 2arca2m. Just iin ca2e youre two den2e two under2tand iit. **

** WHAT *THE* fuckiing HELL AMPORA!!!! ARE YOU U2IING MY QUIIRK AGAIIN2T ME???? **

** Or 2hould II 2ay “WWHAT” the hell? **

** I can't help my fuckin' speech impediment. English sucks and it isn't my first language! **

** Neiither ii2 2cottii2h fucka22!! **

**“Accent2 don't count.”**  

** Yeah, yeah, lord douche. I knoww, I knoww!! **

** No, you don't. You're not human, II'm not human, KK ii2n't human. None of u2 are actually human. **

** The fuck?? **

** Ju2t fuckiing lii2ten two me fii2h face. You. Are. NOT. Human. **

** You are a troll. **

You had no idea what he had been on about, but after the conversation while playing the game, a few more things fell into place in your mind. Still though. What the fuck?? Had he been trying to warn you? And why was he going on about pie? And how the hell could you be a troll? You are human.

* * *

=====> Be Cronus/Chester/Whoever.

After the game, you all go your separate ways. You wander out onto the deck, thinking you might find your dad out staring at the waves. You didn't know why at first, but all three of you are attracted to water. Now it makes sense. “Da?” you ask when you see him by the bow. You walk over and stand next to him, staring out at the waves with him. You see a cloud of fog in the distance but you don't think anything of it.

He gives you a sideways glance. “It's a lovely night isn't it?” he asks you. His gaze stretches out over the waves once more. “I feel that there is something you need to talk to me about.” You turn your head to look at him, wondering if he could read your mind. “There is something I need to talk to you and Daniel about.”

You glance at him and then look back out at the fog, which you swear is moving. You watch the fog swirl and unfurl, dive and weave in and among itself. Angels. You remember them. You swallow and the words start tumbling out of your mouth. “It's important. Dad, this vwas the plan from the start. From the vwery beginning of the game, the plan was to reset, to scratch the game. Their plan is to trap us vwithout our memories. Vwithout our memories, vwe're helpless. Vwe have no powers, no abilities, no memories to fight them vwith. Vwe're putty in their hands. As it is, vwe're all still heroes, but vwithout memories, vwe're all clueless.”

He nods, still staring out at the water. “That's why I brought you boys back out here. You never questioned, but I know Daniel—”

“Aaron,” you interrupt, staring out at the waves. “He vwants us to call him Aaron. He's not happy with either of us.” You glance at your dad and then back at the waves, feeling the sadness wash over you. “Mostly me, probably, because I stopped him from dying.” You're silent for a bit, squeezing your eyes shut. “He's sorry about it, but that won't erase the panic and heart clenching pain I felt vwhen I sawv him lying on the floor in a puddle of vwiolet.” You gag, feeling like you're over heating but you shiver despite the summer heat. Your memories are vivid and suddenly your not seeing Aaron Daniel Ampora on the floor of the bathroom surrounded in a puddle of crimson blood. Instead you are seeing Eridan Ampora collapsed on the floor of the bathroom covered in a puddle of violet blood.

You felt a hand on your back and pair of warm strong arms wrap around you. “I love you, both of you. I know you didn't question when we moved around, Chester, especially when we stayed on the ship for a good amount of time. I'm sorry, Aaron,” he apologized and you suddenly realize that both of Orpheus' arms are wrapped around you.

You turn around and bury your face in Aaron's shoulder. He hugs you back, stroking your hair. “Danny,” he corrects quietly, “and I'm sorry as wwell. I didn't mean to make you guys feel so bad. I just wwanted to stop being miserable and I didn't take into consideration howw anybody wwould feel if they saww me dead.” He was quiet, still comforting you. “I wwon't do it again,” he mutters into your hair.

* * *

=====> Be Danny

You didn't realize just how much your attempted suicide messed everybody up. It made you feel horrible seeing Chester in such a state. He was clingy sometimes, but he was never like this. You've rarely seen him in tears.

You chance a glance at your father. “Wwe're not human, are wwe?” you ask quietly. You glance away. “I keep playing my attempt through my head, or rather, wwhat Chester said about it earlier. He said something about red blood and,” you shake your head, “something about it just feels so off. Like...” You shrug. “I don't knoww. I just feel really dysphoric wwhen I think about my blood being red. Something about it just feels so wwrong.”

“Hey, guys. So this is where you all up and motherfuckin' went. Kharl and I have been fuckin' lookin' for you guys. Also, I get the motherfuckin' feelin' his name isn't Kharl, but I can't read the signs he makes with his hands and he can't motherfuckin' speak. Gavin also fell asleep so he's gonna be no help. But this motherfucker can speak with his hands. Isn't that a miracle?”

Your father smiles gently at Kharl and Gamzee. “Yes, that is quite a miracle. Gamzee, is it?” he asks. You watch Gamzee's face light up like Christmas came early this year.

“Honk!” he says with a large smile and for some reason it makes you think of bicycle horns.

“You remind me a lot of your father, you know,” Orpheus tells him.

“You know my pop?” Gam asks and you hear a multitude of emotions in his voice; confusion, anger, hurt. None of them are happy emotions..

“Yes, _your_ father,” he clarifies with a nod. “I don't know Gavin's father, but the person I am talking about is your father, just as he is Kharl's.” What the heck was he going on about? Gamzee and Gavin had the same parents because they were in the same form. What the hell? “I've been tracking you and I'm most of the reason you were transferred to Skaia.” He glances at you and Chester. “Chester, you're right. Skaia is just a ruse to get all of you kids in one place together. They want to destroy us all.”

“Wwhat the fuck?” you ask. “Wwhat the hell are you on about? The mental facility is not a ruse to kill us all. It's here to help us, to help _me_. Howw can you be so narroww minded? Don't you think if they wwanted to kill us all, they wwould havve done it already?”

“No, they wouldn't have, Danny. The proper moves couldn't be made in the past because not all the pieces had been in play. And even now, a few of the pieces are off the board. I guarantee that if Amber still wen tot Skaia, the killing move would have been played on Friday and we would all be put in check. That's the only keeping them from killing us now. _All_ the pieces need to be in play, but their plans have been thwarted once again because the Megido blood line isn't living in the States anymore.”

You raise your eyebrows. “That's it, I'm going to be in my room. You lot are crazy. Tell me when we hit land but until then, leave me alone unless you're calling me to food.” You untangle yourself from Chester and leave the group.

* * *

=====> Be Chester

You watch Danny stalk off. You want to go after him but you can tell he's teetering on the edge of his memories. It's best if his mind opens up by itself. It's getting there, it will just take a bit.

“To help you see that I'm not lying about this,” he tells you, “that you are still heroes of your aspects and heroes of your own sessions of Sgrub, I have something that I need to show you.” He unlaces his right boot and removes it and his sock to reveal a tattoo of pale yellow wings on the outside of his right ankle. “This is an aspect tattoo and where it shows up on your body reveals your class as well. A mark on the right ankle is the mark of a Seer. The mark on my ankle is that of Hope.”

“You're a Seer of Hope,” you conclude.

“Yes,” he says with a nod. “I made a deal with Connie that if she closed the school down for a month before school starts, I would willingly hand Caliborn over to her.”

You eyes widen in fear and panic. “Dad, you can't—”

He raises a hand to stop you. “I haven't found him and even if I did, I wouldn't tell her where he is. There is no way that I would willingly hand him over to her without a fight.”

Your jaw is set and your lips are in a thin line. “Good.” Your heart is pounding at just the thought of Caliborn being given to the other side. “Because if you did, that would mean instant death to this whole timeline,” you inform him.

Kharl nods, rubbing at the back of his neck. He turns his back to you and you can make out some purple marks on his neck.

“That's right,” you say, just as your lower back has the bad timing of twinging. “You're the Prince of Rage.” You bring your hand up and take off the rest of the cover up, revealing his tattoo. “I have one on my lower back. I always make sure it's covered, even thought I never knew what it was. Now that I'm remembering, I'm glad I kept it covered up.

* * *

=====> Be Danny

That's it. Your family is officially insane and you want to trade. You'd text Carter and plead for him to trade families with you, but you lack the proper internet connection being out in the middle of the ocean. Why the hell did this have to happen? You left the mental hospital only to be surrounded by even loonier people in this loony bin floating all the way out in the middle of the ocean. God damn it!! What the fuck? Why did this always happen to be your luck?

You pick up your guitar again and start picking at the strings then you move onto some choice chords, playing the opening of _This Week The Trend_ by Reliant K.

You really hope this whole month isn't going to be continuation of this. You don't think you can handle being on the ship with a bunch of loons for a whole month. Yes, red blood is weird, but what part of the human physiology isn't? Hell, you wish you had gills, but you know you aren't part fish.

You begin to sing the lyrics, picking up that there is now a second guitar backing your own. It's an electric guitar. Chester must be back in his room, right next to yours.

CA: And this week, the trend / Was to not wake up till 3 PM / I picked a few conscious hours that I chose to spend /And slept away the rest of them

GL: And this week the trend / Was to crash and burn and then return again / To practice the life that I pretend / Provides enough to get me through the weekend

CA: So I say / Get me a solution and watch me run with it / And then You gave / You gave me a solution what have I done with it?

GL: 'Cause I was absolutely sure / I had it all figured out way back then / And now it's this minute, this hour, this day

CA: And this week the trend / Was to back stab every single one of my friends / And leave a voicemail message trying to make amends / All the while hoping things work out in the end

GL: And this week's the trend / Was to borrow all the strength that You could lend / To keep my head above the water and not descend / Back to where I said I'd never go again

CA: So I say / Give me a solution and watch me run with it / And then You gave / You gave me a solution what have I done with it?

GL: 'Cause I was absolutely sure / I had it all figured out way back then / But after this day it's this week / All over again

CA: And I just want to get mugged at knife point / To get cut enough to wake me up / 'Cause I know that I don't want to die / Sitting around watching my life go by

GL: And what we take from this is what we'll get / And we haven't quite figured it out just yet / Because all of us are all too stuck / Strapped to a chair watching our lives blow up

CA&GL: Stuck watching our lives blow up

You sigh and put your guitar away. This is going to be a long trip. You flop back on your bed and close your eyes.

You flop over onto your side. You're not tired but you have nothing else to do. You don't want to play your guitar anymore, you just want this all to end. You don't want to be on this stupid boat. If anything, you'd rather be with Sol and his infuriating nature.

You sit up in confusion. Who the fuck is _Sol_? And there's no way you'd rather be stuck with Xan. He's an infuriating prick who doesn't give a damn what happens to you. He practically said so himself back in the library. He just didn't want _your_ blood on **his** hands. What a fucking jackass.

You huff and roll over, closing your eyes again. The mattress feels plush and you quietly crawl under the blanket. Maybe sleeping wouldn't be so hard after all.

_You sit up, hearing the pattering of rain outside. You blearily blink and look around. It wasn't raining earlier. You also see that you are no longer on the boat. Where are you? You walk out of your bedroom and look around the rest of the house. It looks familiar but at the same time it doesn't._

_You hear three sharp knocks on the front door. Who in the world would be knocking? Unless it's your matesprit or kismesis. A part of you is wondering what in the world those even are and the other half of you is sure you don't actually have those things. In order to have those things, people would have to have strong feelings toward you and you're pretty sure they don't. Although the dream part of you seems to know exactly who it is._

_You approach the door and hear growling and snarling. It sounds like a giant animal and it practically sends you into a panic. Whatever or whoever outside claws at your door. “Gam, wwhat the fuck are you playin' at?” your dreamself asks and a knot of dread tangles itself in the pit of your gut._

“ _LET ME IN!” comes the shockingly loud voice from the other side of the door._

“ _Gam, you're unwwell,” you tell him. “Go home. I knoww today is our day, but you're unwwell. Go home and get sleep. I'll see you tomorroww or somethin'. Ran wwill understand.”_

“ _I need to see you.”_

“ _You're sober!” you shout from inside. “Go home.”_

“ _IM NOT LEAVING WITHOUT SEEING YOU,” he bellows._

_You set the chain lock in place and cautiously open the door. “See me,” you growl. “I'm right here. I'm fine. You can see me again wwhen you're feeling better. You're not yourself right noww, Gam.”_

“ _I need to kiss you. I NEED TO TASTE YOU.”_

_Your heart is thudding in your chest, especially when he reaches toward you. You go to knock his hand away and he grabs your wrist. “Go awway!” you shout at him, trying to wrench your wrist out of his grasp._

“ _Never,” he replies quietly. He kicks at the door, shattering it to pieces. He pulls you to him and kisses you roughly, his claws trailing gently across your face and gently over gills._

_He trails further downward and you feel a sharp pressure at your chest. “Gam, wwhat—?” Your eyes go wide and you gasp, his nails piercing your skin. “Stop!” you shout, trying to push him away, but he grips your arms tightly with his other hand, holding you to him while his claws dig in further._

You fly awake with a scream, drenched in cold sweat. You feel sick. Now you really do wish you could get off the ship filled with loons.

You hear a sharp knock at your door. “Wwhat?” you snap, not getting off your bed.

“Danny, it's me. Open up.” Chester.

“It's open,” you tell him. “But if you come in, you havve to promise not to leavve.”

You watch the door open slowly and you watch as your brother quietly closes it behind him after he steps in. He starts to walk away from the door but you stop him.

“Lock it,” you hiss quietly. “I just had the creepiest dream. And it involved Gam.”

He doesn't question your request. Once the door is locked he quietly walks over to your bed and sits down next to you. “Wanna talk about it?” he asks.

You shake your head. “I want it out of my head and I also want to make sense of it. I really wish we had internet connection or phones or something because I need to talk to Car. Hell, I'd even settle for talking to Xan even if he is a fuckin' prick.”

“What happened?” he asks.

You close your eyes and shake your head. You can feel tears pricking at the edge of your vision. “I don't want to be here anymore. I want to be back at Skaia, conspiracy or not.” Chester wraps his arms around you and holds you close. “He killed me, Chess. He fuckin' ripped my heart out.” You pull away from him. “And wwe had gray skin and horns and I had _gills_.”

“Maybe it vwas a memory?” he asks you gently.

“Evven more reason to be off this boat and back on land. Do you havve any idea wwhat Dad is planning?” you ask him.

He shakes his head. “No idea.” He pets your hair gently.

“Do you think he'll keep us on the ship?” you ask him quietly, nuzzling into the pettings.

“Doubtful,” he chuckles quietly. “Even he'd go stir-crazy being kept on the house-boat for the next month. Don't worry. We'll hit land and then you can text whoever you want. I'm sure of it.” He gently kisses your hair and you realize that maybe things _aren't_ so bad.

You look up at him. “I'm sorry. I'm sorry I did that to you and Dad and I'm sorry that the thought even crossed my mind. I won't do it again.” You close your eyes tightly. “I didn't think either of you cared and the fact that it took a botched suicide attempt to get you to to notice that I needed help kills me inside. I know you care and I know you guys love me, and I love you too, but why now?” you ask him. You two were never this close before and you don't remember him wanting to cuddle you like this.

He buries his head in your hair. “I'm sorry, Danny. We didn't notice how bad things had gotten. With all the moving around and stuff, signals just got muddled. I'm sorry and I want to make it up to you. I'm staying with you tonight and I'll hold you close so you don't have anymore nightmares. I love you, little brother.”

That makes you smile. You both lay down and you nuzzle into his chest, feeling safer than you honestly have in years.

 _You open your eyes because you hear crackling noises like static. You're practically blinded by what you see. You're holding a wand and there's an intense white light shooting from it, trying to overpower red and blue lights shooting at you from the opposite direction. What the hell is going on? Were you dropped into the middle of a wizard's duel? But why the hell? You're not a wizard. You don't know magic. Your the one holding the wand. Were you one in another life? Is that where your slight obsession with_ Harry Potter _and_ Percy Jackson _and_ Mortal Instruments _came from?_

_You're distracted from your thoughts by screams of terror. “Stop it!! Sollux, Eridan, stop fighting!! Stop, you're gonna hurt—!” Another, stronger blast of energy escapes your wand, blasting into whoever was on the other side of it. He looked like Xan but things seemed really off to you. The girl is screaming now, crying. She runs to his side and kneels down, trying to wake him up. “Sollux? Sol— Oh, what did you do to him?”_

_You calmly walk over to her and stand behind her, viewing the scene._

“ _Sollux!! Oh... Sollux... Open your eyes!! Sollux!! Can you hear me? Sollux? Say something... Sollux!! Eridan... You... You... What did you do?” She turns around, staring at you. “You... You krilled him! You, you, YOU KRILLED HIM!” she schreeches. She whirls around, her double-ended trident in her hands._

_She looks livid, her eyes puffy and dark pink. Her pale skin is covered in translucent fuchsia tear tracks. She looks like Vivian but she has horns and gray skin instead of the dark skin you've grown accustomed to. She's wearing a tiara and she has jewelry on._

“ _I didn't want to have to do this!” she shouts, lunging at you._

_You're terrified. She's going to kill you. You close your eyes tightly and hold up your wand. You don't want to die. You didn't want him to die. You don't want anybody to die._

“ _That's why I stopped being your—”_

_You see the flash of bright light behind your eyes and you instantly feel sick. You hear her scream and suddenly you can't move._

You wake up, flailing. “I-I'm gonna fuckin' be sick,” you warn Chester. He's holding you down. You were probably thrashing in your sleep. He releases you quickly and you fly out of bed. You are so glad that there is a bathroom in each of the bedrooms. You lean over the toilet and heave.

God, it's no wonder Xan doesn't want you anywhere near Vivian. If that was what really happened, if you really did kill her... And if that actually _was_ them...! Shit!! You didn't want to be around her either! Obviously, she doesn't remember anything or she would probably keep her distance from you. But you aren't that person anymore. You wouldn't willingly hurt your friends. You can't even remember why you did that or what had gotten into you.

Great, great. You just hope you aren't seeing her at all this month.

You rinse your mouth out with water and then brush your teeth. You decided to follow that up with mouth wash because you do not want to be tasting that later on during the night. You also hope that you get access to wi-fi at some point during the trip because you owe Sol a major apology. And Kar and Kan.

Chainsaws. You shudder and crawl back into bed with Chester.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, more memories are surfacing. Yay!! Lol. I think there will be two more chapters depicting the month. That depends on how the next chapter turns our and how lengthy it ends up being. I'm not sure if I will need a third or not. I might but I don't think so. Two chapters really should cover everything else, but like I said, I'm not 100% sure.
> 
> For anybody wondering (I don't know if anybody is on not though...) I'm kin with Faette, Karkat and Sollux. That also explains the hiatus. Writing slowed down a lot after writing about Aradia dying. This has been Sollux's project and even though he knew that part was inevitable, it just really hurt and took a lot out of him to write that part. So, expect another hiatus when she does actually die in the fic.
> 
> As it is, updating is going to happen every other week now instead of every week. Writing is still going slowly. Also, is it weird to write fanfic with the characters that you're kin with? Is it weirder if the characters themselves are the ones writing it? Idk...
> 
> Anyway, thanks for all the feedback!! It's really appreciated! ^_^


	10. Plan Alternia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More things are going down, more things are getting realized. Why are boys always in denial? Lol Wait until I announce the dorm room set up. _That_ will be **fun!** LOL
> 
> Also, I'm working on a HP/Homestuck AU. I'll begin posting that after I work out some major plot kinks. I'm not sure if I'm going to writing in any of the Hogwarts students from the books or not. I may just be using only HS characters as students. If I do add any HP students, I'm going to say now that it will end up being a complete Tom Riddle free AU. Which means Lily and James are going to be alive and the Marauders will still be a thing. ^^

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if this chapter seems a bit confusing. I don't exactly know what I was thinking when I typed the pesterlog between Sollux and Terezi but at least this way, some things may make more sense. I don't know if that makes sense or not, but I'm going with it. So...yeah.

=====> Be Danny

You wake up the next morning with a kink in your neck and you wonder if its from the way you slept. You unwrap yourself from Chester's arms and sit up. You roll your neck forward and from side to side. The muscles feel tender, like they were tensed getting a shot or something like that. You tilt your head back and realize that was a bad idea. You straighten your neck and shake Chester awake because now you wonder if you have a bruise on your neck.

“Mmm, vwussit?” he slurs sleepily.

“I need you to check my neck,” you inform him. “The muscle is tender and I don't knoww if I slept on it wwrong or wwhat. It's just wwhen I tilt my head back though so I'm not sure if I got bit by somethin' or not.” You turn your back to him and tilt your head down. You feel him shift and sit up and then you feel him lightly touch where it's sore. You suck in air. “Oww,” you say with gritted teeth.

Chester chuckles at your reaction and you have half a mind to turn around and punch him. “You're not gonna like this, but you havwe an aspect tattoo.”

“A _wwhat_?” you ask him incredulously.

“Somethin' that you vwould knowv about if you stuck around last night instead of stalking off to your room,” Chester tells you in a tone hat rubs you the wrong way.

You whirl around, shoulders hunched, and it takes a lot not to knock him in the teeth. “That place has been helpful to me,” you growl. “Skaia isn't a ruse to get us all in one place, Chess. For the first time in my life, I havve friends. Friends wwho care and actually givve a shit.” You study your brother hard, a plan formulating in your head. “If that's the wway Her Imperial Condescention wwants to dance, then wwe'll dance.” You give him a smug look. “If she, Jack, and Doc Scratch think they can pull the wwool over our eyes, they'vve got another think coming. I'vve found people wwho I'vve bonded wwith and wwho wwant to keep me around. If they think they're going to break that up, they're dead wwrong.”

The look Chester is giving you is making you nervous,but you don't back down, even when he flings himself on you in a giant hug. Your puppy jumps up onto your bed as well and gives you a giant lick on the cheek, reminding you of Terezi. “Get 'em, girl!” Chester orders playfully.

You laugh while you try to get away from the puppy kisses. Finally, you get her in your lap and she is being still. “Did dad keep her locked up last night?”

“Probably. Precautionary so she doesn't jump over railings,” Chester guesses.

“I thought dad spent some time wwith her on the ship so she wwouldn't do that.”

“Dogs have a tendency to see vwhat vwe can't and vwith Hope players come—”

“Angels,” you finished for him.

* * *

=====> Time skip a few hours and continue to be Danny

“Wwhat's the plan?” you ask at breakfast. You stare hard at your father. “I need to knoww. I had some disturbing dreams last night and I don't knoww wwhat to make of all of it yet.” Your gaze stays steady on the Orphaner. “I havve an aspect tattoo on my neck and I'vve been havving odd feelin's regardin' a certain mustard blood. Memories are resurfacin' and I noww knoww wwhy Xan treats me so coldly.” You take a deep breath. “No matter wwhat you say, you aren't pullin' me outta Skaia. It's the first place wwhere I finally feel accepted. I havve friends there and it's more than that. Wwe're a family. No matter howw bad things get, wwe gotta stick by each other through thick and thin. This is one of those times wwhere wwe're bein' thinned out. Not evveryone has their memories and wwe need to protect those wwho are still in the dark.”

He holds you gaze silently, even after you've finished your speech. “I wasn't going to take you out of Skaia. Once school starts, you guys will be safer than just being in the mental facility. All of you will be together and you'll be surrounded by humans. Jack, Connie, and Doc aren't going to want to make a scene where questions can be asked.” He gazed around the table at the others. “Besides, you kids won't be the only ones there. I believe some of us ancestors are going to be teaching a few classes. We're going to keep you kids safe despite the cost.”

“No!” you practically shout, flying to your feet. “This is _our_ fight! Wwe don't need you guys to endanger yourselves wwhen it's obvious that wwe're the ones she wwants.” You look around the table and lower yourself back into your seat. “So, again, I'm goin' a ask again, wwhat's the plan?”

He glances around the table and smiles. “You'll find that out tomorrow.”

* * *

=====> Be Madeline

You turn to Toby with a mischievous grin. “I'm bored and I have an idea. Xander's up in his room right?” you ask your boyfriend.

Toby laughs. He knows that when you have ideas like this they usually don't end well. That's why he likes to keep you occupied, but since the minor accident involving a skateboard, Trevor, and a broken leg, you haven't felt like skateboarding much. You still feel guilty.

It was just a minor incline and he said he could do it. You shouldn't have believed him. You know that now. But you still don't want to pick up the board again until his leg is healed. That still won't be until break is over, but at least you can use it to get around Skaia. That's a plus.

“So is that yes?” you ask, lips turned up mischievously. “Is he up in his room working on something?”

“He'th going to kill me,” Toby laughs. You love his laugh. And his lisp. You think they are the most adorable thing in the world. He nods, his fluffy hair bouncing along. It's getting long again. You think you might need to give him a haircut again. “Yeth, he'th home. He hathn't left hith room thinthe we got back from Carter'th.”

“Oh, goody,” you say, tapping your fingers together, giggling evilly. You jump up from the couch and turn toward Toby. “Come with me? You can see him get his feathers in a bunch.”

* * *

=====> Be Sollux

You're sitting at your computer working on some coding for something that your not going to disclose for the sake of surprising people later on. You have 8 bit Zelda Songs streaming through your headphones so you're basically deaf to the rest of the world. That's how you like it, you're not gonna lie. You've never seen yourself as much of a socialite and after all the crap going down with memories and the game starting again, which you hope is a load of bull crap, all you want to do is stay trapped in your room with your husktop. You don't realize until it's too late that things had gone silent.

“HEY DUDE!” is shouted so loudly in your ear that your flail and lash out, knocking your fist against something. “Shit,” a female sputters to your right. “Watch where you're aiming.”

You turn sharply and glare at Madeline. “You shouldn't thneak up on thomebody who ith clearly too engrothed in coding to notithe a damn thing around him!” you shout at her angrily. “How did you get in my room?” you demand. “That door wath locked!”

Madeline stands up straight laughing. “No, it wasn't. Well, the knob is locked sure, but that does you no good if it isn't shut properly.” She laughs and you stand up to your full height.

You are a good inch and a half taller than she is. You look down at her and snarl at her. “Out!” you hiss, pointing at your open door. “I don't want to to thee you or my brother for the retht of the time that you're here! You probably put him up to thith, didn't you?” you ask her.

You're seething and irritated and you wish that you hadn't coded that damn game in the first place! You don't even have a copy of it installed on your computer. So how the hell is it possible for the game to have started if you aren't even in Sburb or Sgrub? None of this makes sense, god damn it!! But that doesn't stop your ankle from stinging where your damn aspect tattoo showed up. God fucking damn it!! None of it makes sense.

You shove her out of the room and stalk back over to your computer and flop back into your computer chair. You need to talk to Terezi. Otherwise, you're going to be thinking yourself in circles all night while you're working on your codes and that won't be good for productivity.

twinArmageddons [TA] starting pestering gallowsCalibrator [GC] at 12:10 PM

TA: What the fuck are we workiing toward here TZ?  
TA: What are we playiing at?  
TA: II know KK told you  
TA: Have you even talked two her 2iince 2he left 2kaiia?  
TA: II mean, wtf ii2 goiing on?  
GC: H33333Y 4PPL3B3RRY >:]  
GC: H3H3H3  
GC: 1DK WH4T YOU M34N  
GC: P3RH4PS YOUR3 R3F3RR1NG TO TH3 F4CT TH4T SOM3 OF US H4VE M3MOR13S WH1L3 OTH3RS OF US DONT.  
GC: OR 4RE YOU R3F3RR1NG TO THE F4CT TH4T YOU W3R3 4BL3 TO G3T 1N CONT4CT W1TH 4R4D14S GHOST?  
TA: Her gho2t. Whiich II don't even want two talk about.  
TA: How ii2 that even po22iible?  
TA: 2he told me that the game ha2 begun.  
GC: WTF?  
TA: That'2 what II 2aid.  
TA: 2o you know nothiing about thii2?  
GC: NO  
GC: 1 ONLY KNOW TH1NGS 4BOUT MYS3LF.  
GC: BL1ND PROPH3T R3M3MB3R?  
GC: 1 KNOW 1M NOT HUM4N.  
GC: 4 R4R3 NUMB3R OF US 4T SK414 4RE  
GC: I H4VE M3MOR1E3S 4S MYS3LF AND M3MOR13S OF R3DGL4R3.  
TA: What diid 2he mean by that then?  
TA: We AREN'T iin a game.  
GC: …  
TA: …  
GC: …  
TA: Unle22 thii2 ii2 a 2econd chance...  
GC: A R3DO?  
TA: Exactly  
TA: Oh my god  
TA: That'2 iit!!!  
TA: TZ you cracked the code  
TA: What iif thii2 ii2 a redo for all the doomed tiimeliine2?  
TA: Tell me.  
TA: Hone2tly  
TA: Do you remember tiieriing?  
GC: UH...  
GC: NO...  
GC: HONE2TLY 1 DONT  
TA: That2 iit then  
TA: IIt2 our 2econd chance  
TA: A do over  
TA: We get two fiinii2h what what we couldn't iin our tiimeliine2  
TA: Thiink of an iincomplete game.  
TA: The maiin course of the game ii2 beaten but the 2ide-que2t2 2tiil remaiin  
TA: Thiink of thii2 tiimeliine a2 a 2iide que2t  
GC: 4R3 YOU S4Y1NG TH4T 1N ORD3R TO COMPL3T3Y B34T TH3 G4M3 *4LL* 4SP3CTS OF TH3 G4M3 MUST B3 COMPL3T3D??  
TA: Exactly  
GC: BUT D1DN'T TH3Y B34T TH3 BOSS?  
TA: Ye2, but beatiing the bo22 wiithout fiinii2hiing all the 2iide-que2t2  
GC: TH3 DOOM3D T1M3L1N3S  
TA: Make2 for an iincomplete game  
GC: BUT WH4T 4BOUT TH3 F1N4L BOSS?  
TA: Thought two have been defeated but hii2 defeat wa2 rendered null and voiid  
GC: W4S H3 4CTU4LLY D3F34T3D OR W4S H3 JUST W34K3N3D?  
TA: My gue22 ii2 that he feiigned defeat but wa2 ju2t iin a weakened 2tate  
TA: What actually happened wa2 that he fled iintwo a voiid uniiver2e, recovered, went back and 2cratched the game whiile tho2e who thought they won the game de2iigned theiir new uniiver2e thu2 actually creatiing the new uniiver2e iin2iide the game  
GC: BUT WOULDNT 1T H4V3 NOT H4V3 WORK3D B3C4US3 TH3 G4M3 W4SNT T3CHN1C4LLY D3F34T3D?  
GC: TH3R3FOR3 TH3 PR1Z3 COULDNT B3 WON.  
TA: That2 the beauty of iit all TZ  
TA: LE beat the 2y2tem  
TA: Thii2 wa2 all 2uppo22ed two happen  
TA: But that doe2nt mean that II hadnt been ready for thii2 two happen  
TA: Pa2t me wa2 a geniiu2 who mu2t have coded a faiil-2afe intwo the programmiing of the oriigiinal game.  
TA: The faiil-2afe diid what iit wa2 meant two do.  
TA: IIt 2aved our programmiing detaiil2 from when we diied and encoded memoriie2 wiith iit 2o we would remember thiing2 that happened after we diied.  
TA: IIt2 2triingiing twogether all of our encounter2 wiith each other and wriitiing them all intwo our memory bank2  
TA: That'2 why II remember beeiing black and pale LT and GZ.  
GC: SO YOUR3 SAY1NG TH4T W3 H4V3NT 3V3N L3FT TH3 G4M3?  
TA: EXACTLY!!  
GC: TH4TS SOM3 PR3TTY D33P 1NC3PT1ON STUFF YOU H4V3 GO1NG ON TH3R3  
TA: Except thii2 ii2 real.  
TA: The game ha2 been reprogrammed 2omehow and our codiing ha2 been hacked.  
TA: That2 why we look and feel human  
GC: 3XC3PT 1 DONT *F33L* HUM4N  
GC: 1 F33L MY HORNS  
GC: 1 F33L MY T33TH  
GC: 1 LOOK 4T MYS3LF AND 1 S33 GR3Y SK1N  
GC: 1 LOOK 4T YOU AND K4RK4T AND 4R4N34 AND 1 S33 GR3Y SK1N  
GC: HELL, 1 3V3N LOOK 4T C4LL13 4ND 1 S33 H3R GR33N SK1N  
TA: 2eer of miind. That make2 2en2e.  
TA: You 2ee what other2 cant.  
TA: You 2ee u2 for u2  
GC: 1TS NOT R34LLY S331NG  
GC: NOT W1TH MY 3Y3S  
GC: 1TS MOR3 L1K3 S331NG  
TA: Ab2tractly  
GC: MOR3 OF A GUT F33L1NG AND S331NG YOU GUYS HOW 1 R3M3MB3R YOU R4TH3R TH4N HOW YOUR3 PORTR4YED NOW  
TA: You can 2ee pa2t the code2  
TA: You can 2ee the realiity of what2 goiing on  
GC: MOR3 OR L3SS. Y34H  
GC: 1 K1ND4 S33 WH3R3 YOU 4RE GO1NG H3R3  
TA: That2 iit then. II thiink II have thii2 fiigured out.  
TA: II have a few more thiing2 left two work on and then II thiink II'll have the maiin 2tructure of the2e code2 fiinii2hed.  
TA: After a te2t driive and workiing out what kiink2 II fiind iin the programmiing  
TA: _Plan Alternia_ wiill bee good two go!!  
GC: 4LL R1GHT 4PPL3B3RRY!!  
GC: YOU K33P 4T 1T 4ND 1 W1LL CH3CK 1N L4T3R  
GC: <>  
TA: <>

twinArmageddons [TA] ceased pestering gallowsCalibrator [GC] at 2:02 PM

* * *

=====> Be Jade for a short time

You look around your room and continue to pack your suitcase full of stuff that you'll want later. You are sure you wont be coming back here any time soon. Maybe a few days before you need to be back at Skaia, but as for other things, you know you won't be back for at least a few weeks. “Is there anything else I need, Bec?” you ask the sprite who's been hanging around you since you left Skaia.

It's fitting really. You believe the other sprites are with their respective counter-parts as well. Davesprite hanging out with Dave and keeping an eye on things with the Stride-Lalondes, Tavrisprite keeping an eye on Trevor and Victoria, Erisolsprite hanging out with Rufioh no doubt so it doesn't need to be surrounded by its living counter-parts, and Feftasprite is probably hanging out and keeping them both company. You think the same probably goes with Davepetasprite and ARquiusprite as well. It's nice that those four can keep each other company. You smile at the thought and look around your room again. You're pretty sure you have everything.

You spy something sitting on your dresser that wasn't there before. It's a small charm that looks like your space aspect. On either side of the aspect is what you remember looking like after you dog-tiered and on the other side of it is a prototyped Peregrine Mendicant. You smile. It's your lucky charm. You remember receiving it in the mail before going to Skaia. You brought it with you, but you never wore it. Now, you feel like you can be able to without question. You feel like you have it earlier than you should, but you don't know for sure. Time was never your thing.

* * *

=====> Be Sollux

You finished the code that you had been working on about half hour ago. You sigh and turn on some music to clear your head. You hate that you have all of your memories back. You don't like Eridan, you don't hate Eridan, you don't have any kind of romantic feelings toward Eridan. At least that's what you tell yourself. The strange feelings that you've been feeling since having that conversation with Aradia and Aranea hasn't left you.

The song on your iPod switches to _Raised by Wolves_ by Falling In Reverse. You aren't a real huge fan of their music, mostly because of Ronnie. You don't like him at all. The only three songs of theirs that you like is _Raised by Wolves_ , _The Drug in Me is You_ , and _I'm not a Vampire_. You listen to Escape the Fate on occasion as well. You prefer their new sound to their old sound. You think they sound a whole lot better now that Ronnie has left the group.

_I was lost now I'm found / I'm sustained by the sound / Of the angels singing me to sleep / While my feet are leaving the ground_

You miss flying. You miss that feeling of being able to go anywhere you wanted without the weight of gravity pulling you down. You miss being able to defy gravity. You miss being able to move things with your mind. But you don't miss the voices that you heard. You think that maybe those voices were a side effect of the abilities.

_Am I dead? Or am I dreaming instead? / A cornucopia of opiates are flooding my head._

But on the other hand, if you are still in the game, you should have those abilities. They were natural abilities, not given to you by the game. And, well, you don't really hear voices anymore. That's been replaced with those god-awful visions of doom and death and blood. You hate it. You don't know if you prefer this to that or the other way around.

_I'm insane, I am smart / All it takes, is a spark, to ignite my bad intentions_

You know you was going to get in trouble for breaking the code but you don't care. Justice is as much your aesthetic right now as it is Terezi's. The difference between you two is simple though. While she prefers to take the high road and use justice while abiding by Alternia law, you prefer cunning and stealth while using underhanded tactics to get your way. You love loop holes and will do anything in your power to exploit them. Terezi taught you this, but you like to take it a step further, making it twist to your will and leaving a sick mockery of what it once was.

_And do what I do best to your heart // Don't be fooled, I was raised by the wolves / Now the moon hangs in full, so you know I won't / Play by the rules_

Ugh!! You hate your feelings for Eridan. They are so all over the place that you don't know what to do with them. You could have been feeling near pale for him while he was with Aranea but he was pale with Feferi instead. And you had been pale and pitch with both Gamzee and Latula.

You want to vomit at the thought of being in any sort of quadrant with Gamzee. But with the stunt Latula pulled earlier, you can easily see how your quadrants with her would easily vacillate between pale and pitch.

But Eridan? What the fuck!? No!! You had never and will never be in any sort of quadrant with him. You refuse! You wouldn't do it for all the money in the world. No, no, no, no, no!

_I will never spill / Spill my blood for you / You have let me down / One too many times_

How in the world did it come to this? Freaking FrostIron? You two are not FrostIron!! You refuse to believe that you're anything like Tony Stark. You are not!! You are sociable and well liked. Sure, you can be an ass, but you know where to draw the line. Right?

_Someway, somehow, we've fallen out / Caught in between my enemies / No way not now, I won't back down / I draw the line at you and me / You're what I started, now disregarded / One day they'll see, it was always me_

Then again with all the swinging KK's been doing in your direction, you are beginning to wonder if he's not onto something. But, no!! You shake those thoughts out of your head. FrostIron wouldn't work in canon. Not in any way, shape, or form. Therefore, you and Eridan couldn't possible work in this canon or timeline or whatever, right?

_Due to mistakes, I have made to the state / I am trapped inside a Dillinger / Diligently thinking of ways to get out of this god awful place / I have learned that my fate is something I can't escape_

Besides, death seemed like something that would happen to you no matter the timeline, doomed or not. Why risk being in a quadrant with him when you are just fated to die? Or are you more like Tony than you realize and you'll come back from this? He did die, even if it was for no longer than a minute. Still, you think about what that would do to Eridan if you do die.

You may not have feelings for him, flushed or pitch—In all honesty, you don't know, but even if your feelings toward him were pitch, you wouldn't wish for him to endure that kind of pain, even if it only lasted for only a minute. To you, that's a minute too much. Nobody should ever have to experience that kind of pain.

You begin to realize that you are pulling all of this from your own personal experience from what happened with you, Aradia, and Vriska's mind-control. Ugh... Nope, nope, nope, nope, nope. You're brain doesn't need to go down that dark and ugly path.

You open up Pesterchum and decide you need to talk this out with Karkat. You need to get your mind off of Aradia's death and figure out what is going on with you and Eridan. And perhaps apologizing for over-reacting in the library would be good too. You weren't exactly in the best state of mind after you came to.

* * *

=====> Be Danny

It's later that night and you're lying in bed with your headphones over your ears. You're iPod is on shuffle and you're listening to your quiet music mix that consists of _Of Monsters and Men_ , _Owl City_ , and some _Relient K._ Your eyes are closed and you're relaxing, getting all of those images out of your head. You're startled by a sudden laugh and you fly upright in bed, flinging off your headphones. You glare at your iPod, cursing under your breath. “Fuckin'... Howw the hell did you get in this list?” You pick your headphones up and put them back on.

_My body's tremblin' sends shivers down my spine / Adrenaline kicks in, shifts into overdrive / Your secrets keep you safe, your lies keep you alive / Snake eyes every single time, you roll with crooked dice_

Nope. You decide against listening to it. It flips multiple switches in your head, none of them being good. You quickly change the song and you prefer the next song much better. _Mona Lisa_ by The All-American Rejects.

You put it on repeat one, lay back down, and close your eyes. Soon, you're drifting off again, thinking about how you're going to change things this time. Things will be better, you just need fix all the damage you did first. You don't expect anybody to take you back when they get their memories back, but you can at least try to make up for past mistakes anyway.

* * *

=====> Be Jake

You double check your suitcase. Everything you need is packed, but another look won't hurt. You've already double checked and triple checked it. Your swim trunks are there, multiple changes of clothes, tooth brush and tooth paste, multiple pairs of pajamas. Yep, everything you need is there.

You zip it up and check on Jade. You find her curled up in a nest of blankets. You wonder how many times she and Davesprite have hung recently. It's obvious she's picked up quite a few of his habits. You grin and walk into her room. You kneel down next to her and gently shake her shoulder.

“Five more minutes, Bec,” she mumbles sleepily before she yawns and looks up at you. “What time is it?” she asks sleepily.

“It's eleven at night here. I figure it's best this way. We can meet Orpheus early while the others are still asleep. It would be a great surprise for them to wake up to,” you tell her.

“He'll still be awake?” she asks you. “If he's not, I'd feel like I was intruding.”

“Nonsense. He invited us, remember? Besides, I bet he already slept. He'll be awake. I'm sure of it,” you tell her with a wide smile.

She sits up and nods. “Okay.” She stands up and grabs her suitcase. “Is your bag all ready, Jake?” she asks you.

You nod. “It's in my room all packed and ready to go,” you tell her with a wide smile.

“Great!!” she says excitedly. She follows you to your room and sets her bag next to yours. “Are we all ready to go?” she asks. “We don't need to do anything here before we leave, do we?”

“Nope, I think that's everything. I have my pistols packed and secured just in case.”

“Good. I was worried about packing my rifle but I got my fetch modus working again so it's stored in my sylladex.”

* * *

=====> Be Dualscar

You're watching the sun rise, enjoying a cup of much needed coffee, and petting your faithful Hope Angel when two suitcases appear on the ship followed by two kids. The kids trip over the suitcases and stumble, laughing. “Hello, Jade, Jake. I'm glad you two could make it.”

“We're not intruding, are we?” Jade asks.

“No, no. Not at all,” you reassure her with a smile, showing your teeth. “Actually, this is perfect timing. The kids are still asleep and we should be arriving in our destination today. You're not intruding on anything. If you would like I can make up beds for you kids and you can get some sleep in if you would like.”

“No thanks,” Jake refuses politely. “I'm not tired. I can wait until tonight to sleep. That way I can sync to a normal sleep schedule in this time zone.”

“Same here,” Jade says with a yawn. “Although a room to put our stuff in would be nice.” She lets out another yawn, this one bigger. “And some caffeine maybe?” She laughs.

* * *

=====> Be Eridan

You wake up groggily. You feel better. Mostly. You still feel bad for all the things you did in your previous life. You hope you're not going to see Fef any time soon. Well, Vivian at least. You think you'd feel better if she doesn't remember you at all. Or you think so anyway. You're not sure. You might feel _worse_ if she doesn't remember you. But, then again, if she doesn't remember you as Eridan, she has no reason to hate you. If she does end up remembering your past life, then she'd probably hate you for it and just not speak to you.

You shake your head. You need to stop thinking about this stuff. It's only going to bring you down and make you more gloomy. Besides, it's Fef. She's more likely to forgive you than hold a grudge. Unlike Sollux. But you two didn't work well from the get go anyway.

Your ears twitch when you hear laughing. It sounds familiar and it sounds female and that just makes you extremely confused because there are no females on board this ship. Nor is there TV or cable or any kind of power outlet of that kind. ...Unless Chester brought his portable DVD player which he very well may have.

_But that doesn't explain wwhy the voice sounds so familiar..._

You slip out of bed and tip-toe to your door. You open the door silently and gawk when you see Jade.

_How the hell???_

You cringe when someone else catches your eye. “Morning, mate,” Jake greets you with a wide smile.

“Piss off,” you mumble irritable, flipping Jake the bird. Of all the people to be on this ship it just happens to be him. How the fuck?? Your luck just keeps getting better and better.

You shake your head and push off the door frame. Probably Harley's doing. You wouldn't be surprised to know that all of her memories and abilities are in tact. She had a knack for knowing things before she should anyway, _way_ before they happened as well.

You don't mind the witch so much. You like her. You've always found her to be an interesting topic to think about. You seem to be drawn to witches anyway. Feferi for one, Jade for two. Are there any other witches that you know of? You don't know. You don't think so. You know there weren't any more in your game session anyway.

Why did she have to bring him along though? Are they a packaged deal or something? He's so god-awfully annoying. His chipper accent, the way he continues to butt into your business, and the way he is so goddamned cheerful all the time. Ugh!! You hate it.

It's only then that you realize that your fingers have curled into fists and that your fingernails are biting into your palms. If you had your claws, they would have drawn blood. And you also realize that you're shaking slightly.

You release your fists and flex your fingers, not surprised that it's a painful task. It's more annoying than anything else. You are shocked however that your hatred for the pistol-wielding brat outweighs your hatred for the mustard blooded troll who you thought was predestined to be your kismesis—Well, back on Alternia anyway. Great... Is it a platonic hatred or a romantic hatred toward Jake?

You feel like gagging. You can't see him in a romantic light, hatemate or otherwise. But it's not platonic. It's not like you want him dead...

_Maybe... Maybe it's ashen?_

You shake your head.

 _Oi... This is complicated. It's no wwonder humans only havve one quadrant. They're simple minds simply can't handle the_ complexities _a troll romance._

You gather clothes to wear and take a shower, getting ready for the day. After that, it's breakfast where you proceed to ignore Jake for ninety percent of the time, gnash your teeth and flip him off another five percent, and proceed to vocally make hateful advances toward him the last five percent.

Of course, you don't even realize that you're doing it until Jade giggles again. It's the fifth or sixth—maybe the seventh time—in the past fifteen minutes that she's giggled at the exchanges between you and him and it's really taking a toll on your nerves.

Your eyes narrow and your earfins would have puffed out and your gills would have flared out—had you still had them, that is—from anger, irritation, and just the need for her to back off. “ _Wwhat?_ ” you hiss at her.

She looks at you and giggles again and you quickly wonder if you had just reverted back to speaking Alternian briefly because you're so angry. Although at this point, that's an understatement. Right now, you feel like you're fuming.

“Nothing,” she sing-songs and giggles again. “It just looks like you're flirting, that's all.”

Chester ducks his head but you see his shoulders shaking so you know he's laughing. Kharl isn't laughing but he's smiling and his eyes are twinkling. You're pretty sure that he would be laughing too if it wasn't for his vow of silence.

Gavin, on the other hand, just looks confused. Obviously troll romance is not something that Gamzee has explained to him yet. If he had, the poor human wouldn't look so confused. But then he starts laughing as well. _Damn it, Gam._ He probably just clued Gavin in on the joke.

“I am not hate-flirtin',” you mumble indignantly. You rise from the table and go back to your room. “Screww them,” you mutter to yourself. “I'd rather be in a quadrant wwith Captor.”

* * *

=====> Be Sollux

After talking to Karkat and working out a few kinks in programming code, you think you have it now. You log into Pesterchum again, this time with the holowatch activated. You decide to pester Karkat, Aradia, Kankri, and Aranea. You start a group video chat and wait for the others to join.

“Hey Sol—” Karkat started and then stopped. “You know you have ear-fins, right?”

You give him a weird look. “No, I don't, KK. You know I don't have ear-finth. That'th only ED and FF. You know, thea-dwellerth.”

“No, like you actually have ear-fins. Go take a look in a mirror.”

You stand up and go check the mirror in the bathroom. You're met with the familiar sight of your dual red and blue eyes and your double set of horns and your gray skin but you also see that, yes, you have ear-fins. You glance at the settings on the holowatch and see that it somehow got set on tyrian-blood. You're not sure how that happened but it did. You set it back to yellow-blood and go sit back down at your computer. “Fikthed,” you tell Karkat.

“Sollux!!” you hear Aradia exclaim. “You look so good!! Are you in costume or something?” she asks excitedly.

“Hello Sollux,” Kankri greets you. “What do you mean, Amber? This is how he always looks. As do the rest who have been trolls. You all have gray skin and horns. Your horns look a lot like Damara's actually,” he comments.

Karkat gives him a weird look as do you. “Kankri, we're all human. What do you mean he always looks like this? No, he doesn't. It's a hologram,” Karkat informs his brother.

A fourth picture blinks into existence on the screen. “Hi guys,” Aranea says with a smile. “What's up?” she asks.

Kankri looks thoughtful. “I suppose as a Seer of Blood, I haven't lost the ability to see people as they are. I see you four with gray skin and horns as I do the rest of those in Skaia who used to be trolls. Gavin is an interesting case though. Karkat told me that he's actually Gamzee, but all I see is a normal human. I even see Nurse Calliope with her green cherub skin. And Nurse Jade has dog ears.”

“He is Gamzee,” Karkat says. “Well, kind of. The way it was described to me is that Gamzee and Gavin are headmates,” he says thoughtfully.

“Hi, AN,” you say with a grin, sure that they can see your fangs. You wish you could feel them. You miss your fangs and your pointed ears.

“Hi, Sollux,” she greets you with a smile. Her eyes get wide as she takes in your appearance. “Whoa, nice look you have going on. I wish I had my gray skin back. I miss my horns too. It feels weird now not having that weight there.”

“That'th actually what thith video call ith about. I figured it might jog peopleth memorieth if they saw familiar faceth. Memorieth aren't going to be jogged by looking at familiar _human_ faces, but if they see trollth walking around Thkaia than maybe, memorieth will be jogged eathier.”

“You know,” Aranea started, looking thoughtful. “That's a pretty good idea. It would stop those of us who do remember from feeling so dysphoric about it too.”

“Yeah,” you agree with a nod. “I jutht wish I could feel what otherth can thee. While you guyth can thee my hornth and eyeth and fangth becauthe of the hologram, I can't feel anything different. I honethtly mith my fangth.”

Karkat grins at you impishly, his eyes glinting teasingly. “Now that it seems like you got the hologram figured out, why don't we talk about the _other thing_ we conversed about? He waggles his eyebrows at you and you pale instantly.

You feel yourself heat up from embarrassment and for a split-second you wonder what can be seen via the holorgram. You push those thoughts aside with a snarl. “Don't you dare tell them what we talked about earlier, Carter,” you hiss. “If you tell them, I _thear to_ _ **GOD**_ you will regret it!”

“Oh my,” Aranea giggled. “Look at that, Aradia, he's positively yellow.” She laughed again.

“It's so cute. Does my little honey bee have a crush?” Aradia cooed.

“No!” you shout in a hushed tone. “It'th not like that! It'th not like that at all!” You glare at Karkat. “God damn it, KK! I do not have a crush on anyone!” You bare your teeth at the computer screen and chomp your teeth at the red-head who's laughing uncontrollably.

“That's not—” Karkat gasps for air. “Not what you said earlier.” He wipes a few stray tears from his eyes and you want to punch him. God damn it. This is totally what you get for talking to people.

You snarl at him again. “You're lucky I'm not anywhere near you right now. I'd find _thomething_ to thtrangle you with!”

“Carter, you should knock it off,” Kankri interjects. “You need to cease and desist. This is obviously a triggering topic for Alexander.”

“You're god damn right it'th triggering,” you grind out. “Jutht wait until I get my clawth in you, KK. TZ ith going to be thmelling your blood all over camputh.”

“Sollux, what has gotten you so riled up?” Aradia asks you. You huff and glare at the screen. “Talk to me, honey bee. Please?”

It's the way that she looks at you that finally makes you break. “Fine,” you sigh. “I'll tell you over chat,” you mumble, looking away. You close the video chat and message Aradia.

twinArmageddons [TA] starting pestering apocalypseArisen [AA] at 9:30 PM

TA: II keep thiinkiing about ED  
TA: II haven't really been able two 2top thiinkiing about what you and AN 2aiid the other day  
AA: 0h, y0u mean ab0ut y0u and Eridan being a l0t cl0ser in y0ur previ0us lives?  
TA: Yeah. Liike how you 2aiid that iif the death2 had happened diifferently, he and II miight have gotten clo2er  
AA: Yeah 0u0  
AA: I still d0nt like that smiley  
AA: Anyway  
AA: What are y0ur th0ughts 0n him?  
TA: II don't know. *2hrug*  
TA: II'm not fond of the thought that II can't get hiim out of my head  
TA: But at the 2ame tiime...  
TA: *2hrug*  
TA: iidk  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like I said, I apologize for any and all confusion this chapter may have caused. So... Everyone is still in the game? Oh, this will be interesting. Very very interesting. So yeah. Hopefully this isn't getting too out there for anyone. I like kudos and comments. I love you guys for reading this!! Comments are appreciated. Lol. ^^


	11. Land Ho!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vivian wakes up early and excited, much to Meenah's dismay. Meenah and John have an interesting exchange. Jane bakes and is later kidnapped by John.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I LIVE!!!! Sorry this took SO FREAKING LONG!!!!! Between work and typing up what I wrote back in September. September of all months. I'm sorry about all that all carp. Anywaves, it's up now. Enjoy!! Next chapter will be up in a week or so. It's almost done being typed up. I'm typing a part up that I thought corresponded with this chapter. It doesn't. Heh. ^^;;
> 
> Also, I have a tumblr. scattered-dreamers.tumblr.com
> 
> I've also gotten wrapped up in reading dreambubble shenanigans. Like [this fic here is](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1227805/chapters/2516392) perfect btw. You need to read it.
> 
> And I really wanted to post this yesterday, but AO3 was being special.

=====> Be Vivian

You wake up bright and early in the morning. You are excited. You eel like somefin spectacular will happen today. You have no idea what it it is or what could possibly happen, but you can't help but walk around with a spring in your step and speak with excitement in your voice. Also, you are the first one awake. Maybe the second one. You're pretty sure that despite not being seen anywhere in the house at the current moment, your mom isn't in bed still either. She has this uncanny habit of being awake before you. You sometimes wonder if she even sleeps. You've woken up at almost four in the morning before and she was awake as well. She was cleaning the house and when you inquired about it, she said that she had been awake since three. There have been times where you wonder if she even sleeps.

The next to awake is Mina and she's less than amused with your antics. She's never been a morning person and it makes you curious about who your father is. Or was, as it might be the case. You've both asked your mom about him and she always refuses to tell you, no matter how many times you ask or how much either of you poke at the topic.

Mina's sleep habits are just one of many things that make you wonder. She isn't a morning person like you and your mom are. Mina prefers to sleep in a little rather than waking up at a “cod-awful hour in the morning.” She also loves to travel. She gets very restless if she stays in one place for too long. It's unlike you and your mom who prefer to stay in one place when possible. You don't mind traveling but its not something you want to have a career doing.

The next person you see today is your mom. By now, it's ten in the morning and you wonder where she has been. Your curiosity is sated when you see that she has a plate of pancakes in her hand. You see that she has been cooking. Or possibly it's Aunt Betty who has been cooking. Possibly Jane. You know she loves to do that stuff as well.

“OH! They look DELICIOUS!” you exclaim excitedly. You practically run to the cabinets to grab plates and forks to eat with. Mina is shooting you a death glare but you ignore it. “Are you going to be eating with us, mother?” you ask. She rarely does, claiming she has more important things to do instead, but it's worth a try at least.

She shakes her head and you frown. “I have things I have to do. I have to make sure all the classes are squared away and that none of the teachers suddenly decided to quit.” She walks off after muttering something about Jack Noir and how she needs to make a school wide ban on having him in the kitchen or near any kind of “stabby things”.

You shrug and turn back to Mina and the plate of pancakes. “These look DELICIOUS!” you squeal again, never able to contain your excitement.

“You already said that, princess,” Mina tells you with a roll of her eyes. She leans forward and stabs a few pancakes, putting them on her plate. She mumbles something and gets out of her chair, grabbing the butter and syrup that you forgot.

You did, however, remember your favorite! Cinnamon and sugar! You love it and can't seem to get enough of it. You butter your pancakes and then sprinkle the cinnamon sugar onto your pancakes.

She returns to the table and raises her eyebrow at you. “Ew,” she deadpans. “You are so weird. Both you and Crofish.” She sticks her tongue out at you. “I can't even fathom how you guys can do that. Maybe _with_ syrup, but that's just too dry.” She pours the syrup on her pancakes, making them more moist. “My fronds, I swear,” she mutters before taking a bite.

* * *

=====> Be Meenah

You wake up to the sound of feet running around the house. You groan and pull the covers back over your head but you can't go back to sleep. “Son of a beach, that gill,” you mutter, pushing the blankets off of you. “Kelp, looks like I'm not gettin' anymore sleep.” You swing your legs over the edge of the bed and sleepily walk down the hall and into the living room. “Quiet it down, guppy,” you mutter and flop down on the couch, grabbing a pillow. “What'cha doin' up so cod damn early, anyway?”

“I'm EXCITED!” Vivian exclaims. She is so much like Feferi, it almost physically pains you. You wish she would remember everything already, but you know that it isn't time yet.

You bring the throw pillow up to your face in an attempt to smother yourself, even though you know it won't work. You sigh and take it down. “How are you so excited at this cod-awful hour in the morning?” You glance up and see that it's only 8:30, so you are completely justified in calling it that.

“I don't know,” she replies with a shrug and a large grin. “I just am. I feel like something EXCITING is going to happen today!” She excitedly hops up on the counter and you wonder who your dad is for the umpteenth time in your life. You know Vivian is more like your mom, so you must be more like your dad, whoever he is.

You don't respond to Vivian, instead you zone out, wondering about so many things. Next thing you know, your mom is walking in the back door and you are zoning back into reality to see that almost two hours have gone by. Did you fall back asleep by accident and just wake back up? You don't know, but what you do know is that your stomach is craving food.

“OH! They look DELICIOUS!” Vivian exclaims excitedly. She practically runs to the cabinets to grab plates and forks to eat with.

You shoot her a death glare because all the clanking of plates and silverware is making your ears ring. You push yourself off the couch and shuffle to the table. You sit down as Vivian places a plate in front of you.

“Are you going to be eating with us, mother?” Vivian asks.

You don't know why she does. You already know the answer to that. She's naut. She's always too busy with her own stuff to spend any time with her kids. You're grateful that dinner is being held with Aunt Betty tonight. Naut only does she cook amazing food but you know that she will eat with all of you kids.

She declines just as you had expected and Vivian frowns. “I have things I have to do. I have to make sure all the classes are squared away and that none of the teachers suddenly decided to quit.” You watched her walk off, muttering something about Jack Noir and how she should make a school wide band, saying that he shouldn't be allowed near “stabby things”.

Vivian shrugs and turns back to you and the heaping plate of pancakes. “These look DELICIOUS!” she squeals again, her vast excitement always uncontainable.

“You already said that, princess,” you tell her boredly with a roll of your eyes. You stab a few pancakes and put them on your plate. “Things were forgotten,” you mumble to yourself. She forgot the butter and the syrup when she grabbed the plates and silverware. You push your chair away from the table and grab them from the counter. You return to the table and see that Vivian is putting cinnamon and sugar on her pancakes. You raise a questioning eyebrow at her. “Ew,” you deadpan. “You are so weird. Both you and Crofish.” You stick your tongue out at Vivian. “I can't even fathom how you guyes can do that. Maybe _with_ syrup, but that's just too dry.” You pour syrup on your pancakes, making them moist and sweet. You cut a small piece and mutter, “My fronds, I swear,” and then you take a bite.

After breakfast, all you want to do is rest and relax. Vivian yells that she is going to the beach and you are perfectly fine letting her go alone. You are laying on the couch in the living room, almost asleep for the second time that day. That is until somemoby is at your door, knocking obnoxiously. You groan and slid off the couch, almost kissing the carpet in the process. You yank the door open and snarl at John but he remains unfazed as he practically skips into the house. “ _Yes?_ ” you ask, eyebrows raised in question, eyes never leaving him for a second. “Did'ja want somethin', shrimp, or are you just here ta be annoyin'?”

“I'm meeting Vivian at the beach. I wanted to see if you wanted to come along, Mina.” He bounced on his toes.

“It's Meenah. Ya know that. Ya know who I am, shrimp. Also, when it's just us guppies, feel free to reefer to her as Feferi.” You place your fists on your hips. “I know ya not dumb. As an Heir a Breath, I know your mind is well awakened to what's goin' on.” He nods in confirmation. “Just keep an eye on her and your sista and you'll be golden. As for your offer, if I wanted a be out on the beach, I'd already be out there.”

“Pllleeeaasssse!!!” John begs completely nonplussed by anything that you had just told him.

“Why aren't ya scared a me? If anymoby else remembered like you do, they'd do any fin possible ta get awave from me.” You are vastly confused. “I mean, I did try ta stab ya when we first met.”

He laughs, nervously in your opinion. “Yeah, that was kind of a bad meeting. But you are aware that I don't see just my timeline right? When I freak out, I see every single possibility and outcome—past, present, and future—at once.”

“And yet, you're still not scared?” you ask, thinking that there has to be so much negativity surrounding you in every possible timeline.

“Nope!” he exclaims with a wink. “There are so many timelines that you do so much good as your past and present self.”

You hesitate, grasping what he is saying. “You mean, my Alternian and Beforian selves? As Meenah Peixes _and_ as Her Imperial Condescension? How did I do any good as H-I-C?”

John looks into your eyes, nothing but seriousness on his face. You feel something churn in your stomach. You didn't think it was possible for him to be serious, but it is. “I see timelines where you feel guilty about condemning the Signless to death, where you release the Helmsman from his captivity.” He takes a step forward and you take a step back. You don't know why he is making you nervous, but he is. There is something startlingly familiar about the way he is behaving and you can't and won't put your finger on it. “There is one timeline where you and he are flushed and share a quadrant.” He drops the serious look now and the grin that is plastered on his face is shit-eating.

You can feel your face heating up. You and Mituna? No, that couldn't be right. You could never... You would never? Now you were confused and felt guilty for the way you behaved when Cronus told you that Mituna was having a fit. You suppose some things never changed. Never in the timeline that you remember could you ever see yourself being in any kind of shape to have Mituna in any of your quadrants. Then again, this wasn't about you and Mituna, this was about H-I-C and Psii...

“There are also some timelines where you never even killed the Signless, timelines where those kinds of thoughts never crossed your mind.” Your head shot up and your eyes instantly met his. “Not because of blood color, because in every timeline I see there is always castism, but because you happen to be the one who found him instead of the Dolorosa. I don't know why you happen to be in the forest, but you find him and rescue him and take him home with you.”

“I love the forest,” you say absentmindedly. “They were alwaves some of my favorite fins about the surface world. They were always beautiful and amazing and I do remember feeling jealous, that I just wanted them to myself, for the other sea-dwellers as well.”

“See?” he says with a smile. “You're not all bad.” He shoves you gently and you just laugh. He's no longer a guppy in your eyes. He's leveled up to beta status. “So, beach?”

* * *

=====> Be Vivian

After breakfast, its time for the beach. You run out of the house after changing quickly and call your cousins. You know John would love to meet you on the beach but you're pretty sure Jane is inside cooking with her mom, your Aunt Betty.

“This is the machine, but leave a message and we will get back to you. If you are Strider calling, please don't rap. You know I can't reply to that.”

You giggle at the message, obvious that John set it up. “Hey guys! I'm going out to the beach if you want to meet me there. Something spectacular is supposed to happen today, I can just feel it! Sea you guys there.”

You run the rest of the way to the beach, your towel in your hand and your pink goggles sitting in your hair. You twirl as you run, your arms outstretched. You love it here and you are so glad that you are back home, if only for a month. This place is spectacular and you can't imagine living elsewhere.

You lay your towel out on the beach and run into the water. You dive into the waves and resurface. You do some swimming and float around on your back for awhile, loving the feeling of riding the waves. After a bit, you decide to stand back and up and you smile, hearing John. You see him running across the street to meet you in the ocean. In the background you see Mina trudging along as well, carrying her towel over her shoulders. You smile and wave and hop up and down excitedly.

He races to meet you on the beach. He lays his towel out beside yours and steps into the water beside you. You two get into a splash fight for a bit, running around and ducking under the water. This is so much fun. There is only one thing that could make this so much better in your mind.

John gasps. “It's a ship!” he exclaims.

You whirl around—as best as you can since you are almost waist deep in water—and immediately recognize the ship. This is it! This is what you've been waiting for all day! This is why you've been so excited! “It's the Orphaner! Chester and Danny are here!” You hop up and down excitedly. “Oh, this is such great news!” You do your best to run out of the water. You need to tell Jane and Aunt Betty and your mom. Oh, they'll be so excited!

* * *

=====> Be John

You see your answering machine flashing to let you know that it has a message. You answer it since your mom and sister are off elsewhere. They are most likely in the industrial sized kitchen that is the entire basement of your house. You hit play on the answering machine and listen to the message.

“ _Hey guys! I'm going out to the beach if you want to meet me there. Something spectacular is supposed to happen today, I can just feel it! Sea you guys there.”_

“Totally!” you shout. You rush to your room and get ready. You plaster sunscreen on yourself and grab a towel. You wrench open the basement door. “Mom, Jane, I'm going to the beach with Vivian. I'll see you later!” You run out the door after slipping flip-flops on and then you decide to see if Mina is still home or if she went out with Vivian. You peek in the window and then knock on the door obnoxiously.

After a moment, she yanks the door open and snarls at you. You don't let it faze you though. Instead, you skip into the house. “ _Yes?_ ” she asks, eyebrows raised for emphasis. She eyes you to make sure you aren't up to something. You can tell that she is annoyed with your antics but you don't care. “Did'ja want somethin', shrimp, or are you just here ta be annoyin'?”

You lean forward on your toes. “I'm meeting Vivian at the beach. I wanted to see if you wanted to come along, Mina.” You bounce on your toes in excitement. Vivian's excitement was contagious.

She gives you a look that tells you that she can and will eat your bones clean if you so much as cross her the wrong way. “It's Meenah. Ya know that. Ya know who I am, shrimp.” Her expression softens. “Also, when it's just us guppies, feel free to reefer to her as Feferi.” She placed her hands on her hips. “I know ya not dumb. As an Heir a Breath, I know your mind is well awakened to what's goin' on.” You nod. “Just keep an eye on her and your sista and you'll be golden. As for your offer, if I wanted to be out on the beach, I'd already be out there.”

“Pllleeeaasssse!!!” you beg. You are completely unfazed by anything that she's told you. You even remain unfazed by all the looks that she's given you.

“Why aren't ya scared a me?” she asks you. It's a perfectly legitimate question and you can tell that she is exstreamly confused. “If anymoby else remembered like you do, they'd do anyfin possible ta get awave from me. I mean, I did try ta stab ya when we first met.”

You nod. Yep, you remember that. She had been trying to kill Roxy's dreamself and you saved her, getting yourself killed in the process. You laugh, remembering that. “Yeah, that was kind of a bad meeting. But you are aware that I don't see just my timeline right? When I freak out, I see every single possibility and outcome—past, present, and future—at once.”

“And yet, you're still not scared?” You know that she is asking about all of her timelines, her past self and her future self.

“Nope!” you exclaim with a wink. “There are so many timelines that you do so much good as your past and present self.”

She hesitates, grasping what you are saying. “You mean, my Alternian and Beforian selves? As Meenah Peixes _and_ as Her Imperial Condescension?” She casts her eyes downward. “How did I do any good as H-I-C?”

You look into her eyes in complete seriousness. “I see timelines where you feel guilty about condemning the Signless to death, where you release the Helmsman from his captivity.” You take a step forward and she takes a step back. You can tell that you are making her nervous, but you have no idea why. “There is one timeline where you and he are flushed and share a quadrant.” You are grinning now and you see her flush bright red. “There are also some timelines where you never even killed the Signless, timelines where those kinds of thoughts never crossed your mind.” Her head shot up and her eyes met yours in an instant. “Not because of blood color, because in every timeline I see there is always castism, but because you happen to be the one who found him instead of the Dolorosa. I don't know why you happen to be in the forest, but you find him and rescue him and take him home with you.”

“I love the forest,” she tells you. Her eyes are shining. You wonder if anything you just told her hit home. “They were alwaves some of my favorite fins about the surface world. They were always beautiful and amazing and I do remember feeling jealous, that I just wanted them to myself, for the other sea-dwellers as well.”

You smile widely. “See? You're not all bad.” You shove her gently and she just laughs, her smile genuine, reaching her eyes. “So, beach?” you ask her.

She nods and leaves the room to get ready, leaving you alone with your thoughts. For some reason, you feel oddly drawn to her. Once she comes back you stand back up and look away. She looks amazing in her swim top and swimming trunks. You wonder shortly if she stole those from Chester but you didn't really care either way. They fit her tomboy aesthetic.

You race out the door with Mina behind you. You think she may be lost in thought and so you just let her be. You cross the street and wave at Vivian who is already in the water. You race there and lay out your towel. Mina isn't far behind you. She lays her towel out beside yours and lays down, closing her eyes and soaking up the rays of golden sunlight.

You're so spectacularly excited to be out of that god-awful room at Skaia and out into some sunlight and refreshingly fresh sea air. You honestly don't remember the last time you were on a beach. ...Honestly, you don't remember the last time you were out of that room other than a few minutes to get out and stretch your legs on visitation days. Even then it didn't happen all the time.

When you are around large crowds of people, such as visitation day, your senses go on over-drive and you begin to see things that aren't actually there. You start freaking out because you see what you think is multi-colored blood but when you tell the nurses that, they put you in a straight jacket and give you a tranq.

You'll wake up later with Jade shushing you. Most of the time Carter is with her too, along with some of the sprites, namely Davesprite. They are the only ones who can properly calm you when you go into one of your fits. You prefer the two of them to Doc Scratch, Nurse Betty, and Head Nurse Connie. Doc Scratch gives you chills. You know there is something not right about him and its vaguely familiar in a way and it scares the crap out of you.

Something is off with Nurse Betty too. You know it. You can feel it, despite her being your adopted mom. Head Nurse Connie is her sister. Not by blood though. Betty was adopted and lived on Barbados for some time too before going back to the States to find her blood family. She didn't get very far by the way she describes it. According to what she found out, her mom died in child birth and her father died shortly after putting her up for adoption.

As for what happened after that, you're not really sure. All you know is that she ended up adopting you and Jane, and then sometime after that Aunt Connie had the brilliant idea for Skaia. Or something like that. Again, you're not really sure how that worked out either.

Oh well. As it is, you are standing in the ocean with the sun's rays pouring down on you as you have a splash war with Vivian. The outside air is hot and the tropical air is refreshing. The coolness of the water makes the outside temperature tolerable. You don't remember having this much fun in years. As you continue splashing Vivian, something catches your eye. “It's a ship!” you gasp out. You've never seen one like it and you can't tell if its some kind of fancy yacht or just an extremely posh house-boat of sorts.

“It's the Orphaner!” Vivian squeals, immediately recognizing it. You have no idea what that means but you continue to look on at the ship in awe. “Chester and Danny are here!” She hops up and down excitedly. “Oh, this is such great news!” She runs off, probably to tell Jane, Aunt Connie, and your mom. For some reason you can't help but worry slightly about this chain of events, but you're excited nonetheless.

* * *

=====> Be Meenah

After getting ready and following John out to the beach, you laid your towel out on the beach and laid down, catching some spectacular rays. You ignore when you hear John gasp. He probably did something juvenile and childish like catch a small silver fish. That or Vivian just stuck one down his shirt. (Yeah, he still has a shirt on, but this one is too large for him, perfect for swimming in.) You don't judge. Personally, you did that until you were eleven or twelve.

“It's a ship!” John shouts excitedly.

Your eyes fly open at that. You don't fly into a sitting position, but you are definitely more alert now.

“It's the Orphaner!” Vivian squeels in excitement. You roll your eyes. At least you know why she's been more spastic than usual this morning. “Chester and Danny are here! Oh, this is such great news!”

You hear her run off. She is no doubt running off to tell the adults. Not that you aren't an adult yourself, but you aren't one of the ones who are trying to take over and destroy the world. Still, you sit up, curious as to what they're doing here. You shake your head and lay back down. They're practically family. It's not as if it matters.

You're more worried about how the other adults will react, your mom in specific.

* * *

=====> Be Gamzee

You're sitting on the deck of the Orphaner with Jade and Jake. Jade is behind you combing out your hair and braiding it. It's relaxing and you love it. Jake is sitting next to you, sipping his highly caffeinated flavored water. The beach is finally in your view.

You missed the beach. It reminds you of Seagoat Dad and being back home on Alternia. The water is clear and all you want to do is swim and gather stones and shells and create pretty things to bring back to your friends. Maybe you can get some help and bring something pretty back for Karkat. Or Carter as he's called here.

This world is so strange to you. You keep hearing that voice to kill the trolls but it's not as strong as it has been. The meds help and since Gavin has been giving them to you, they have helped immensely.

You miss your friends, Karkat in particular. You think you should give him a call. “I'm gonna call Karkat. You guys okay with talking to our little shouty best bro?” you ask.

“Sure!!” Jade replies excitedly. “I'm curious to know how his summer is going.”

“O' course, mate,” Jake agrees.

You remove your cell phone from your pocket and see that you have a signal again. “Honk!” you bleat happily. You scroll through your contacts and hit the phone icon.

“Hey Gavin,” he greets when he answers the phone.

“Hey Karbro,” you answer with a smile.

“What's up, Gamz?” You can hear the smile in his voice. “Kankri told me that Danny and Chester are going out on a ship or something?”

“Yeah, bro!” you exclaim in excitement. “It's bitch-tits out here! They're dad took us all out on a ship and you won't motherfuckin' believe where we're motherfuckin' goin'!”

“Where are you going, Gamzee?”

“We're goin' to the motherfuckin' beach, bro!” You hold the phone out toward the beach. “Listen to that music, Karbro!” you shout, hoping he can hear the waves and the 'gulls and the rest of it.

“Hi Karkat!” Jade shouts with a giggle.

“How's it going, mate?” Jake asks.

Eridan and Cronus round the corner, Cronus hanging on Eridan and Eridan trying to shove him off. “No! Ugh, get off me, you bafoon! Get _**OFF**_! I do not havve any possible colorful feelin's for the English earth-dweller!”

“Eridan and Jake, sitting in a tree, H-A-T-T-I-N-G!”

“Hattin'? Wwhat the hell is hattin'?” Eridan asks, extremely confused and still very ticked off at his brother. “That just goes to showw wwhat kind of bafoon you actually are. _Hattin'_ ain't evven a thin'. Hate kissin' and hate snoggin', sure. But wwhat the hell is _hattin'_?”

“Hattin'?” he echos. “I meant hatin',” he replies with a wide shark-like grin.

You laugh and bring the phone back. “As you can tell, everyone is doing fine. I just wanted to call you to say hi and that I missed ya, Karbro.”

“I miss you too, Gamz. I'll see you when you get back.”

* * *

=====> Be Eridan

You are lounging on your bed, engrossed in a book, when your door opens. “Go awway,” you mutter, not even glancing up from your book to see who it is at your door. You don't really care. If you know anything about the others on this ship, you know they're up to no good. “If you're here to tease me, I suggest you leavve.” You quickly glance up to make sure it wasn't Kharl or Gavin. “Oh, it's you.” You bury yourself back in your book, ignoring your brother even as he takes two steps toward you. He takes a third step and you glare at him. “Did I stutter?” you ask.

“No,” he says with a wide grin that makes you think he's up to something. “I just thought you may wvant to look out the wvindowv.”

You set your book aside and raise an eyebrow at him. It's obvious that you're not getting any more reading done while he's around. “Wwhy?” You're suspicious and not without reason. Your brother has teased you about stupid things in the past and you wouldn't put it past him to tease you about Jake.

“Just do it,” he urges you lightly. “I swvear this isn't a joke.” You glare at him again. “Nor am I baiting you into anything.”

“You'd better not be,” you growl, your eyes narrowing in suspicion. You get off your bed and look out the small window that looks out over the ocean. You see a beach a ways off and some kids playing on it. “Wwhere are wwe?” you ask.

“Barbados,” he tells you with a wide grin. “Da says he has a surprise for us.”

You turn around and face your brother. “Wwhat kind a surprise?” You're curious because you know who lives here. Albeit, you haven't been on the island for a while, but it's not like you don't already see them at Skaia. “Vvivv and Min can't be the surprise because we've already seen them recently. I mean, that wouldn't make sense.”

Chester shrugs and laughs. You can feel that this is going to eat at you because your father isn't a simple man, not in any means. “He probably just wants the island to be the surprise, like hanging out with Mi and Vi. I mean, it's literally been years since we've been here.”

You shrug and nod. This is true. “But you don't think the island is the surprise, do you?”

Chester shrugs and starts to walk out. “Come on,” he says, gesturing fro you to follow him. “I think Da wants to tell us something before we dock.”

You shrug and follow him out. That sounds like your dad. You shut off the light on your way out and follow Chester.

“So,” he starts, a shit-eating grin on his face. You already regret this. “You and English, huh?”

You groan and walk faster. You are not dealing with him.

To your intense displeasure, he matches you step for step. “You hate him, right?” His grin gets wider and you just want to deck him. You walk faster to no avail. “Is it _romantic?_ ” He waggles his eyebrows at you.

“No!” You stop dead. “Wwould you knock it off? Wwhat are you, fivve?”

He chuckles. “I see, there is something there.”

You throw your hands up. “You're insufferable.” You pick up your pace and ignore him. You turn a corner and see Gavin on the phone and Jade is next to him, combing through his hair.

“We're goin' to the motherfuckin' beach, bro! Listen to that music!” Gavin holds out the phone and you realize that it's Gamzee, not Gavin.

“Hi Karkat!” Jade says loudly into the phone.

Cronus hangs on you and it takes all of the self-control you have not to shove him off the side of the house boat and tell him to swim to shore. “Awv, but you lowve me.”

“No! Ugh, get off me, you bafoon! Get _**OFF**_!” You shove him off you and stumble backward a bit ungracefully before wiping yourself off. “I do not havve any possible colorful feelin's for the English earth-dweller!”

“Eridan and Jake, sitting in a tree, H-A-T-T-I-N-G,” he sing-songs.

You fix your older brother with an incredulous look. “Hattin'? Wwhat the hell is that? That just goes to showw wwhat kind of bafoon you actually are. _Hattin'_ ain't evven a thing. Hate kissin' and hate snoggin', sure. But wwhat the hell is _hattin'_?”

“Hattin'?” he echos. “I meant hatin',” he replies with a wide shark-like grin.

You shake your head and roll your eyes at your idiotic blood relative. Right now you want to shove him off deck. You know you can't right now but that option might become possible once you get closer to shore.

* * *

=====> Be Karkat

You are LARPing with Nichole, Theresa, and a few other friends of yours in your huge backyard when your phone starts blasting ICP. “Can someone kill me?” you call out. “Gavin's calling. I don't want to hold up the game,” you explain. At least, you think it's Gavin. It's more likely to be Gamzee. You are curious as to how he's doing. You heard a little bit from Kankri that Danny and Chester are on a boat?

You grab your phone off of the picnic table that is sitting in the shade and answer the call, stopping the loud blast of ICP. “Hey, Gavin.”

“Hey Karbro,” he replies and you smile

“What's up, Gamz?” you ask with a smile. You know the others aren't paying attention. They're involved in the LARP. “Kankri told me that Danny and Chester are going out on a ship or something?”

“Yeah, bro!” You can hear the excitement in his voice. “It's bitch-tits out here! They're dad took us all out on a ship and you won't motherfuckin' believe where we're motherfuckin' goin'!”

“Where are you going, Gamzee?” you ask him.

“We're going to the motherfuckin' beach, bro!” You can hear the waves lapping against the side of the ship. “Listen to the miraculous music, Karbro!” You hear seagulls in the distance as well.

“Hi Karkat!” a familiar voice shouts and giggles.

Jade?

“How's it going, mate?” another familiar voice asks.

“No! Ugh, get off me, you bafoon! Get _**OFF**_!”

Eridan. There really isn't any mistaking that haughty, demanding tone.

“I do not have any possible colorful feelin's for the English earth-dweller.”

“Eridan and Jake, sitting in a tree, H-A-T-T-I-N-G!”

“Hatting?” you ask to nobody in particular.

“Hattin'? Wwhat the hell is hattin'?” Eridan asks, extremely confused and echoing your own thoughts. “That just goes to showw wwhat kind of bafoon you actually are. _Hattin'_ ain't evven a thin'. Hate kissin' and hate snoggin', sure. But wwhat the hell is _hattin'_?”

“Hattin'?” Chester laughs. “I meant hatin',” he replies with a laugh.

Gamzee chortles, coming back on the line. “As you can tell, everyone is doing fine. I just wanted to call you to say hi and I miss ya, Karbro.”

“I miss you too, Gamz. I'll see you when you get back.”

* * *

=====> Be Vivian

You run into the vacation house that your mom bought your aunt and your cousins. You quickly run down the stairs into the gigantic kitchen that is their basement. “Guess what!” you exclaim as you fly down the steps.

Jane pulls a sheet cake out of the oven and turns to you. “What?” she asks and then takes her own guess. “Please tell me that John didn't adopt another stray. He's almost as bad as Roxy.”

You laugh. “At least they're not cats.” John's strays are lizards, usually by the name of Casey. You can't imagine what it would look like if all of his strays were cats.

“Oh, he did, didn't he?” she asks frantically.

You giggle again. “No, nothing like that. We have visitors.”

Her face lights up and she visibly relaxes. “Really? Who?” she asks you excitedly.

At that moment, John burst through the door. “Jane, you _have_ to come to come to the beach! We have visitors!”

“Who?” Jane asks again.

“You'll see!” he tells her. He grabs her hand and begins to race up the stairs then stops. “You don't have anything in the oven, do you?” you hear him ask from the top of the stairs.

“You're timing couldn't have been better. I actually just pulled the last cake out of the oven to cool,” you hear Jane tell John.

You giggle again. You can't help it. You're just so excited! You quickly check the ovens to make sure they're all off before following after Jane and a John who is cackling very loudly. You hear the basement door open and then close with a push of air.

* * *

=====> Be Jane

You are in your happy place, the industrialized kitchen that is literally your basement. You have many orders to fill, so this will be what your day consists of—But first, pancakes. You need breakfast and so does everyone else so you make a half ton of pancakes, using all the griddles simultaneously.

Maybe a half _ton_ is an exaggeration but as you stare at the gigantic pile of pancakes, you wonder if maybe you over did it just a bit.

“This is perfect, honey,” your mom says, walking to stand next to you. She surveys you with a smile. “These will be sold out in no time. The island missed out cooking.” She kisses the top of your head and starts shoveling the into a few large plastic containers. She set those aside and made a plate piled high with pancakes as well. “For your brother, Connie, and the girls,” she explains. “You should have some too, hon,” she says, laying her hand between your shoulder blades. “Take a small break.”

You look up at her with a smile. “I was planning on it, Mom.” You turn around and give her a big hug, which she returns. “I love you, Mom.”

“I love you too, honey.”

You hold on a little longer and pull away, grabbing some pancakes for yourself. You grab some for John too and then head upstairs. You set the plate down on the counter and grab another, some silverware, the butter, and the syrup.

“Hey sis!” John greets. His face lights up brightly when he spies the surprise you brought up. “Ooh, pancakes!”

You grin and nod toward the sliding glass backdoor. I was gonna eat outside. Wanna join?” you offer.

“Of course!” he exclaims happily.

You two chatter while you eat but as soon as you're done finished, you go back to the kitchen to fill orders, leaving John outside.

You and your mom run a bakery on the island. It's a great hit with the locals. They're so excited that you two are back and the bakery is open again. They're so excited that you two are back and the bakery is open again, even if it is only for a little while. They're trying to get their fill of the bakery while you're back on the island.

“Mom, Jane, I'm going to the beach with Vivian!” you hear John call down from the stairs.

You smile. You sometimes wish you could be around others too, but you think it's better this way, for many reasons. Besides, you like this. Baking has always been a passion of yours and you immerse yourself in it.

You hear the basement door open and you wonder who it is. You glance at the clock but it reads 2:30. You frown a bit. If it's your mom, she's early.

“Guess what?” Vivian races down the stairs excitedly.

You pull your last cake of the day—a special-order red velvet sheet cake soon to be topped with strawberry cream cheese icing—out of the oven. You place it up top to cool and turn to her. “What?” you start curiously. “Oh, no,” you add, slightly fearful. “Please tell me John didn't adopt another stray? He's almost as bad as Roxy.”

She laughs. “At least they're not cats.”

Roxy had a bad habit of adopting every stray she saw. Being her dorm-mate the year before was hard because Roxy and her adorable strays were hard to say no to. Thankfully, John wasn't as bad but his lizard collection was already growing and they hadn't even been on the island for a whole week. “Oh, he did, didn't he?” you ask, not sure what to do with your hands, so you find yourself rubbing them against your apron.

The look of complete horror must have been pretty defined because Vivian giggles quite loudly. “No, nothing like that.” She smiles. “We have visitors.”

You feel the panic drain from you, replaced with excitement. “Really?” you ask. “Who?” You really wanted to know.

At that moment the basement door slammed open and John flew down the stairs. “Jane!” He tripped around the corner and fell against the wall. “You _**have**_ to come to the beach. We have _visitors_ ,” he says, as if it's rare to get tourists in Barbados.

“Who?” you ask again.

“You'll see!” John exclaims, excitedly grabbing your hand and beginning to drag you up the stairs. It's really rare to get straight answers out of these two. It's almost like they conspire together. He stops and looks down at you. “You don't have anything in the oven, do you?”

“You're timing couldn't have been better,” you start and before you can actually finish your thoughts, you're dragged up the stairs and into your personal kitchen. That just means your mom is going to have to do some baking herself if she gets more orders for the day. In fact, you almost run into her at the top of the stairs.

“Hi Mom! Bye Mom! I'm kidnapping Jane for a bit. We have visitors!”

Your mom smiles. “I know. I was just headed down to relieve Jane and let her know. We have a few more orders that I'll handle myself.”

“Sweet!” exclaims John, but you feel a bit guilty.

“Are you sure, mom? I know this is a joint effort.”

“I'm sure,” she replies with a nod and reassuring smile. “You forget, I've been doing this kind of thing for more years than you've been alive. I'll be fine.” She makes a shooing gesture with her hands but you're still not convinced.

“Sure your sure?” you ask.

She just grins and shakes her head. “I wouldn't complain if you wanted to help with dinner though.”

“All right!” you agree with a smile and nod. “Sounds good!”

“Now shoo!” she laughs and all three of you run off giggling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, along with reading dream bubble shenanigans, I want to write them. Because after the summer vacation is over, which I swear will happen eventually. As in, like, two more chapters? I keep saying this and it keeps expanding further. SO! We will see. But I've been working on making profiles for the Beforan Ancestors of Kankri, Meulin, Aranea, etc. And I so want to write dreambubble interactions with the kids and the ancestors and ahhhhh!!! Please request things. Lol.


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